Hi all,
I'm finally back to exploring Elanthia after a very long time and want to get my skills/abilities straightened out. Right now I have the following:
Name: Fizzleband Sordrid Race: Sylvankind Profession: Sorcerer (shown as: Summoner)
Gender: Male Age: 3017 Expr: 1842424 Level: 41
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 94 (22) ... 94 (22)
Constitution (CON): 59 (4) ... 59 (4)
Dexterity (DEX): 68 (19) ... 68 (19)
Agility (AGI): 74 (17) ... 74 (17)
Discipline (DIS): 100 (20) ... 100 (20)
Aura (AUR): 100 (30) ... 100 (30)
Logic (LOG): 74 (12) ... 74 (12)
Intuition (INT): 67 (8) ... 67 (8)
Wisdom (WIS): 100 (25) ... 100 (25)
Influence (INF): 70 (10) ... 70 (10)
Mana: 155 Silver: 0
Fizzleband (at level 41), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 20 4
Physical Fitness...................| 143 43
Arcane Symbols.....................| 143 43
Magic Item Use.....................| 143 43
Harness Power......................| 163 63
Elemental Mana Control.............| 143 43
Spirit Mana Control................| 143 43
Sorcerous Lore - Demonology........| 143 43
Sorcerous Lore - Necromancy........| 5 1
Survival...........................| 130 35
Perception.........................| 143 43
Climbing...........................| 120 30
Swimming...........................| 120 30
First Aid..........................| 140 40
Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 30
Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 26
Spell Lists
Sorcerer...........................| 41
Training Points: 61 Phy 0 Mnt (1052 Phy converted to Mnt)
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks,
Fizzleband
BRANBELL
OM1E5GA
Re: Back After a Long (10+ year) Break!
03/30/2020 07:44 PM CDT
Yer training looks pretty solid to me. Good job on having PF and Perception at 1x, most didn't start doing that til fairly recently though it's always been a good idea.
If Spirit Guide (130) isn't important to you, you can start putting all your spell ranks into the sorcerer circle until you're 20 ranks above 1x then maintain that while getting MnE ranks. Whether you get 130 now or later is really personal preference, though. Sorcerer's certainly have enough other options for transportation and running rescues, but you're not likely to miss the point or two of CS it'll cost you to get it now either.
If there's something you want but don't have TPs for, both Swimming and Climbing are high for your level. It's not hurting you having them now, but 15 ranks in each is sufficient to get you just about anywhere you want to hunt until around 70 (esp if you're in Voln)
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
If Spirit Guide (130) isn't important to you, you can start putting all your spell ranks into the sorcerer circle until you're 20 ranks above 1x then maintain that while getting MnE ranks. Whether you get 130 now or later is really personal preference, though. Sorcerer's certainly have enough other options for transportation and running rescues, but you're not likely to miss the point or two of CS it'll cost you to get it now either.
If there's something you want but don't have TPs for, both Swimming and Climbing are high for your level. It's not hurting you having them now, but 15 ranks in each is sufficient to get you just about anywhere you want to hunt until around 70 (esp if you're in Voln)
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
ALLENM20
Re: Back After a Long (10+ year) Break!
03/30/2020 07:45 PM CDT
This is my two cents. If you're CoL, you won't really need more than 1x harness power for leveling. This standard advice is to continue pumping sorcerer spell circle until your ranks are at least 21 above your level and maintain at least that.
At level 42: Ranks X
Armor Use 8 (0.2X)
Physical Fitness 42 (1.0X)
Perception 42 (1.0X)
First Aid 42 (1.0X)
Survival 21 (0.5X)
Arcane Symbols 42 (1.0X)
Magic Item Use 42 (1.0X)
Harness Power 42 (1.0X)
Elemental Mana Control 42 (1.0X)
Spirit Mana Control 42 (1.0X)
Spell Research 106 (2.5X)
Minor Elemental 30 (0.7X)
Minor Spirit 25 (0.6X)
Sorcerer 51 (1.2X)
Sorcerous Lore 42 (1.0X)
Necromancy 42 (1.0X)
Welcome back.
At level 42: Ranks X
Armor Use 8 (0.2X)
Physical Fitness 42 (1.0X)
Perception 42 (1.0X)
First Aid 42 (1.0X)
Survival 21 (0.5X)
Arcane Symbols 42 (1.0X)
Magic Item Use 42 (1.0X)
Harness Power 42 (1.0X)
Elemental Mana Control 42 (1.0X)
Spirit Mana Control 42 (1.0X)
Spell Research 106 (2.5X)
Minor Elemental 30 (0.7X)
Minor Spirit 25 (0.6X)
Sorcerer 51 (1.2X)
Sorcerous Lore 42 (1.0X)
Necromancy 42 (1.0X)
Welcome back.
| As I gaze over the horizon, the wind tugs at my cloak and whispers, "Adventure" in my ear. |
| A squeaky halfling nearby asks, "Why you playing with orcs heads and troll rearends?!" |
ACMEGAMER
Re: Back After a Long (10+ year) Break!
03/30/2020 10:03 PM CDT
Hey Starchitin, I thought we were doing Spell aim and elemental lores now as well? Am I wasting points by now x2 in spell aim and singling in various elemental lores? Don't mean to derail the thread but I just was noted that you didn't mention those skills in your advice.
OM1E5GA
Re: Back After a Long (10+ year) Break!
03/31/2020 01:27 AM CDT
<Hey Starchitin, I thought we were doing Spell aim and elemental lores now as well? Am I wasting points by now x2 in spell aim and singling in various elemental lores? Don't mean to derail the thread but I just was noted that you didn't mention those skills in your advice.>
I blame not having left the house (or this room, really) for two weeks for not thinking to mention Spell Aiming... the elemental lores I did think to mention, but didn't because of the OPs level and I didn't want to inundate them with too much "down the road" advice. At any rate, I'm happy to address both:
Spell aiming is useful to have for targeting specific limbs with Limb Disruption and for increasing the effectiveness of the focused versions of 710 and 720. By level 41 Maelstrom has reached the end of it's usefulness for serious hunting, though 708 will be useful throughout your carrier for disabling critters that are immune your other disabling abilities. Being able to target a specific limb will prevent wasting mana having to cast the spell multiple times (if you want to blow the right hand off a critter to prevent it from casting, it always seems to blow off both legs first). As for 720, it's not an often used spell, but it's def useful to be proficient in for those "oh crap" situations. I've had plenty of occasions in both regular hunting and invasions where focused implosion vaporizing a critter I couldn't otherwise handle was the difference between victory and needing a cleric (esp when trying out new hunting grounds).
All that said, Spell Aiming is very much a 2x or nothing skill. I tend to prefer versatility over raw power, so I promote investing in it. There are plenty of sorcerers that prefer putting those TPs into spells to boost their CS instead. Whichever way a person decides to go with their sorcerer is determined by their play style and personal preferences. Messing around with bolting as a sorcerer is a waste of time as far as I'm concerned... if you want to bolt, roll up an empath.
As for elemental lores, those are def useful though level 41 is a bit early to be putting TPs into them IMO and 1x in them is def a post-cap goal rather then something most sorcerers are going to want to do from the get-go (though I could see an experienced player doing this instead of getting Spell Aiming). At level 86, my sorcerer has 15 ranks in Fire lore (from when I still used 710 to hunt) and 10 ranks in Water lore (soon to be 12). I could have more, but wanted Summoning lore for various benefits to the MnS circle more... so my sorcerer is pretty lore-heavy for his level compared to others.
The elemental lores are mostly useful for boosting the crits inflicted by 719, which is a spell useful through-out any sorcerer's carrier once they have the mana to cast if regularly. 12 ranks in any of the elemental lores (water, earth, fire, and air) will increase the crit of that cycle of 719 by one level, most sorcerers stop there until a fair bit post-cap unless there's benefits in the MnE circle for them they want as well. You can start getting them once you're comfortable with your CS. The order doesn't really matter, though if what you're hunting is weak against a specific element it'd be a good idea to focus on that element first.
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
I blame not having left the house (or this room, really) for two weeks for not thinking to mention Spell Aiming... the elemental lores I did think to mention, but didn't because of the OPs level and I didn't want to inundate them with too much "down the road" advice. At any rate, I'm happy to address both:
Spell aiming is useful to have for targeting specific limbs with Limb Disruption and for increasing the effectiveness of the focused versions of 710 and 720. By level 41 Maelstrom has reached the end of it's usefulness for serious hunting, though 708 will be useful throughout your carrier for disabling critters that are immune your other disabling abilities. Being able to target a specific limb will prevent wasting mana having to cast the spell multiple times (if you want to blow the right hand off a critter to prevent it from casting, it always seems to blow off both legs first). As for 720, it's not an often used spell, but it's def useful to be proficient in for those "oh crap" situations. I've had plenty of occasions in both regular hunting and invasions where focused implosion vaporizing a critter I couldn't otherwise handle was the difference between victory and needing a cleric (esp when trying out new hunting grounds).
All that said, Spell Aiming is very much a 2x or nothing skill. I tend to prefer versatility over raw power, so I promote investing in it. There are plenty of sorcerers that prefer putting those TPs into spells to boost their CS instead. Whichever way a person decides to go with their sorcerer is determined by their play style and personal preferences. Messing around with bolting as a sorcerer is a waste of time as far as I'm concerned... if you want to bolt, roll up an empath.
As for elemental lores, those are def useful though level 41 is a bit early to be putting TPs into them IMO and 1x in them is def a post-cap goal rather then something most sorcerers are going to want to do from the get-go (though I could see an experienced player doing this instead of getting Spell Aiming). At level 86, my sorcerer has 15 ranks in Fire lore (from when I still used 710 to hunt) and 10 ranks in Water lore (soon to be 12). I could have more, but wanted Summoning lore for various benefits to the MnS circle more... so my sorcerer is pretty lore-heavy for his level compared to others.
The elemental lores are mostly useful for boosting the crits inflicted by 719, which is a spell useful through-out any sorcerer's carrier once they have the mana to cast if regularly. 12 ranks in any of the elemental lores (water, earth, fire, and air) will increase the crit of that cycle of 719 by one level, most sorcerers stop there until a fair bit post-cap unless there's benefits in the MnE circle for them they want as well. You can start getting them once you're comfortable with your CS. The order doesn't really matter, though if what you're hunting is weak against a specific element it'd be a good idea to focus on that element first.
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
GS4-NETZ
Re: Back After a Long (10+ year) Break!
03/31/2020 05:00 AM CDT
Looks like the community is helping with the in-depth gaming stuff as is usual so I'll throw in a "Welcome back!" for good measure.
AGM Netz
AGM Netz
ACMEGAMER
Re: Back After a Long (10+ year) Break!
03/31/2020 09:18 PM CDT
Ah, oh so I wasn't in error on the spell aim. BTW, I've been using 710 to hunt vipers, boars and ogres since returning and respec-ing out of archery. Gained three levels using it as my main hunting spell. 709 or Mind Jolt and maelstrom. Been working well for avoiding the nasty smr attacks.
OM1E5GA
Re: Back After a Long (10+ year) Break!
03/31/2020 09:30 PM CDT
Yer, I used that tactic for quite a few levels. After level 40 there aren't many hunting grounds where it's a good option, though. By that level sorcerers should have enough mana that they can use other spells more frequently, though.
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
BRANBELL
Re: Back After a Long (10+ year) Break!
04/01/2020 02:43 AM CDT
Thank you everyone for the advice. Is there a strong opinion about first aid and survival? First aid seems to be helping me a lot as I been making a lot of mistakes (I'm a level 41 n00b), but I wasn't sure if there were any general guidelines were on this?
Thanks,
Fizzleband
Thanks,
Fizzleband
ACMEGAMER
Re: Back After a Long (10+ year) Break!
04/01/2020 09:35 AM CDT
The main reason I found myself using focused maelstrom there is due to stance and the boars and vipers. (sorry my post last night was short due to finger typing on the tablet, which I'm not fond of). Basically I found that versus the maneuvers I failed more often than not if I was in an aggressive stance. So I started hunting in guarded with focused maelstrom.
Boars aren't stunnable so they get Grasp of the Grave then a cast or two of focused maelstrom. Vipers aren't affected by Grasp so they Mind Jolt and then cast or two of maelstrom. Ogres get grasp or jolt depending on how many critters are in the room. If I am hunting in stance guarded or defensive I tend to avoid the worst of the boars and the vipers maneuver crap. If I am in neutral, advanced or offensive stance I tend to get hurt badly and fail the the damn maneuver check and no I am not encumbered.
Basically that area taught me that guarded/defensive stance is a must. :/ The five spells I tend to use are Grasp of the Grave, Mind Jolt, Focused Maelstrom and occasionally Focused Implosion when I'm dealing with four to six of the varied critters. I need to find a new area to hunt now though, now that I'm 63rd.
I miss using archery but I'm going to wait out the archery changes now that I've become used to sorcery again since returning before seriously considering respecing back into archery sorcerer. Btw thanks again for all the help and information Starchitin. You've been consistently one of the best of a small list of players who've been quite helpful in helping me grok all the changes since returning and I am deeply appreciative of that.
Jim/Celtar
OM1E5GA
Re: Back After a Long (10+ year) Break!
04/01/2020 10:40 AM CDT
<Is there a strong opinion about first aid and survival? First aid seems to be helping me a lot as I been making a lot of mistakes (I'm a level 41 n00b), but I wasn't sure if there were any general guidelines were on this?>
When I saw the survival training, I assumed your character was based in Icemule, where environmental effects make it a valuable skill for anyone that spends a lot of time there. If that's not the case, it's my opinion that those TPs could be better spent elsewhere. Even maxed out in Survival and First Aid, a sorcerer is never going to be good at skinning or foraging (the only other real reasons to train in the skill)... even if you have them to obtain alchemy ingredients it'd be more effective to make friends with a ranger or empath and get them to obtain them for you.
First Aid doesn't cost near as much as Survival, so if you eat a lot of herbs or have to use the NPC cleric to raise those you rescue regularly it can be useful to have. If neither of these apply (or you don't mind a longer RT when eating herbs), you won't miss dropping this either... esp if there's something else you'd rather spend the TPs on.
Lastly, if the total number of ranks in these two skills is less then .5x, you'll stop getting skinning bounties from the Adventurer's Guild. This alone is enough to convince most sorcerers to dump them, since it's frustratingly difficult for sorcerers to obtain the skins of most like-level critters and the rewards for completing that task are lower then any other task.
<Basically that area taught me that guarded/defensive stance is a must. :/ The five spells I tend to use are Grasp of the Grave, Mind Jolt, Focused Maelstrom and occasionally Focused Implosion when I'm dealing with four to six of the varied critters. I need to find a new area to hunt now though, now that I'm 63rd.>
Going into a more aggressive stance does make 702/705 more effective if you're channeling them, but it's not absolutely necessary to do so. If the area you're hunting in is too too dangerous to stance up in, there's nothing wrong with channeling them in guarded stance. You'll still get the bonus for having an empty hand and probably won't notice the difference too much, esp if you're just using them to finish off already weakened critters. Aside from when I've used 718 to take out particularly stubborn critters, I can count on one hand the number of times I'd purposely gone above guarded stance with my sorcerer.
As for a new area to hunt, you might want to head to RR and try out the Citadel. It'll still be challenging for a couple levels even though you're a level above swordsmen... just stay out of the area with arbalesters (second floor and battlements), between their ranged attacks, speed, and sweep maneuver they're a death sentence. Stick to the main floor and dungeon and you'll to well so long as you don't stick around in rooms with too many critters that aren't disabled.
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
When I saw the survival training, I assumed your character was based in Icemule, where environmental effects make it a valuable skill for anyone that spends a lot of time there. If that's not the case, it's my opinion that those TPs could be better spent elsewhere. Even maxed out in Survival and First Aid, a sorcerer is never going to be good at skinning or foraging (the only other real reasons to train in the skill)... even if you have them to obtain alchemy ingredients it'd be more effective to make friends with a ranger or empath and get them to obtain them for you.
First Aid doesn't cost near as much as Survival, so if you eat a lot of herbs or have to use the NPC cleric to raise those you rescue regularly it can be useful to have. If neither of these apply (or you don't mind a longer RT when eating herbs), you won't miss dropping this either... esp if there's something else you'd rather spend the TPs on.
Lastly, if the total number of ranks in these two skills is less then .5x, you'll stop getting skinning bounties from the Adventurer's Guild. This alone is enough to convince most sorcerers to dump them, since it's frustratingly difficult for sorcerers to obtain the skins of most like-level critters and the rewards for completing that task are lower then any other task.
<Basically that area taught me that guarded/defensive stance is a must. :/ The five spells I tend to use are Grasp of the Grave, Mind Jolt, Focused Maelstrom and occasionally Focused Implosion when I'm dealing with four to six of the varied critters. I need to find a new area to hunt now though, now that I'm 63rd.>
Going into a more aggressive stance does make 702/705 more effective if you're channeling them, but it's not absolutely necessary to do so. If the area you're hunting in is too too dangerous to stance up in, there's nothing wrong with channeling them in guarded stance. You'll still get the bonus for having an empty hand and probably won't notice the difference too much, esp if you're just using them to finish off already weakened critters. Aside from when I've used 718 to take out particularly stubborn critters, I can count on one hand the number of times I'd purposely gone above guarded stance with my sorcerer.
As for a new area to hunt, you might want to head to RR and try out the Citadel. It'll still be challenging for a couple levels even though you're a level above swordsmen... just stay out of the area with arbalesters (second floor and battlements), between their ranged attacks, speed, and sweep maneuver they're a death sentence. Stick to the main floor and dungeon and you'll to well so long as you don't stick around in rooms with too many critters that aren't disabled.
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
