# The "dcollins' poll" sorcerer



## Thanee (Nov 10, 2004)

Just for fun, I was looking through the various "what xth level spells should any wizard have" polls and thought, why not take a look at the whole in the form of a 20th level sorcerer who learned the spells strictly following the poll results (I did replace obsolete spells, though):

  0th - (9) N/A
  1st - Magic Missile, Mage Armor, Shield, Identify, Charm Person (replaced Sleep/Color Spray)
  2nd - Glitterdust, Web, Invisibility, Scorching Ray, See Invisibility (replaced Alter Self)
  3rd - Fireball, Fly, Haste, Slow (replaced Dispel Magic)
  4th - Greater Invisibility, Dimension Door, Polymorph, Stoneskin
  5th - Wall of Force, Hold Monster, Cloud Kill, Feeblemind (replaced Teleport)
  6th - Greater Dispel Magic, True Seeing, Disintegrate
  7th - Limited Wish, Greater Teleport, Spell Turning
  8th - Mind Blank, Horrid Wilting, Polymorph Any Object
  9th - Time Stop, Shapechange, Wish

  Not too bad. 

  Bye
  Thanee


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## the Jester (Nov 11, 2004)

That's a pretty reasonable spell selection.


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## dcollins (Nov 11, 2004)

Maybe that's my next character, you think?


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## Li Shenron (Nov 11, 2004)

Considering the practical differences between a Wiz and a Sor, it's somewhat surprising that the best selection for the Wiz also seems to make such a perfect Sor   

Does someone want to make the same with the LEAST voted spells and see what comes up?


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## Plane Sailing (Nov 11, 2004)

I think that the lack of surprise is probably down to the fact that a wizard would probably have a lot of one-off use spells in his spellbook that he carries around on a scroll (useful when you need them, not so useful the rest of the time) and thus his "generic" spell choices are very similar to what a sorcerer would choose - after all, this is a wizard choosing for general applicability of spells to adventuring.

One potential problem with this list from the sorcerers point of view - it is light on spells that attack Will saves (capping at Feeblemind and hold monster) or Reflex saves (capping at Fireball (!)). It also doesn't have many options at high level for SR bypassing spells.

Heighten Spell, Empower and Maximise are obvious feats for this sorcerer to take to overcome some of those saving throw based limitations.

Cheers


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## Gort (Nov 11, 2004)

They're pretty obvious choices for ANY sorcerer, really


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## Thanee (Nov 11, 2004)

Well, maybe 9th level will add Dominate Monster (tho there is some competition, Mordenkainen's Disjunction, Gate, Shapechange, Time Stop). 

 Bye
 Thanee


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## Lamoni (Nov 11, 2004)

I think that when you look at the entire list at 20th level, that it makes a pretty good sorcerer, but I believe the polls would turn up different results if they were specific to a sorcerer rather than wizard.  I am sure that at least one shadow spell would have turned up.  Thanks to the sorcerer's swap spell ability, the end result at level 20 would usually end up pretty close to a wizard's.  Of course, most sorcerers try to have a few general purpose spells, but focus mostly on their specialization (at least in my group).


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## Thanee (Nov 12, 2004)

Yeah, as I said, it was mostly a fun exercise. 

But I think it shows that picking the best spells from each level is a good strategy for a sorcerer. Well, doh! 

Bye
Thanee


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## Inconsequenti-AL (Nov 12, 2004)

Seems solid! 

There's probably only 2 changes I'd make:

Switch Fireball to Lightning bolt... cos' I like them!

Stoneskin I'd switch for Solid Fog - I love that spell... among other things, it's great for keeping large dumb opponents busy for a long time


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## Thanee (Nov 12, 2004)

Inconsequenti-AL said:
			
		

> Solid Fog - I love that spell... among other things, it's great for keeping large dumb opponents busy for a long time



 This also works with smart opponents...

 In one game I was DM'ing, I had an NPC wizard "trap" the party with Solid Fog, while his buddies were raiding a wagon train, the party was with.

 After a couple rounds the PCs were out of the dense fog and it was, of course, too late by then.

 THEN... the PC wizard remembered his _Dimension Door_ spell. 

 Bye
 Thanee


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## shilsen (Nov 12, 2004)

Thanee said:
			
		

> This also works with smart opponents...
> 
> In one game I was DM'ing, I had an NPC wizard "trap" the party with Solid Fog, while his buddies were raiding a wagon train, the party was with.
> 
> ...



 Sounds like spellcasters in my campaign. The guy who didn't remember his spell, that is


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## Thanee (Nov 16, 2004)

2nd level updated.

Bye
Thanee


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## Nail (Nov 16, 2004)

Thanee said:
			
		

> 2nd level updated.



Wonderful!


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## Doug McCrae (Nov 16, 2004)

Identify should be replaced with Ray of Enfeeblement


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## Thanee (Nov 17, 2004)

Well, the above spells are just taken directly from the poll for the best wizard spells of the various levels. If I had to choose, I would also replace Wish. 

Bye
Thanee


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## Gizzard (Nov 17, 2004)

Interesting.   Here is the Sorcerer12 from my current campaign with his different choices bolded:

1st - Magic Missile, Mage Armor, Shield, *Ray Enfeeble, True Strike*
2nd - Glitterdust, Invisibility, See Invisibility, *Resist Energy, Blind/Deaf*
3rd - Fireball, Fly, Dispel Magic, *Lightning Bolt*
4th - Greater Invisibility, Stoneskin, *Enervation*
5th - Feeblemind, Teleport
6th - Disintegrate

I think the player looked at things like Ray of Enfeeblement and Enervation as having good synergy with Empower or Maximize.  Obviously Fireball has good synergy there too.  

Looking it over, Resist Energy is the standout difference to me.  Does everyone else just count on good Reflex saves? ;-)


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## Evilhalfling (Nov 17, 2004)

Gizzard said:
			
		

> Looking it over, Resist Energy is the standout difference to me.  Does everyone else just count on good Reflex saves? ;-)




Nope, we depend on the Cleric/Druid to cover that.  Prot energy spells are far superior, and if absolutly nessary there are scrolls to be had.


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## Thanee (Nov 17, 2004)

Gizzard, see above, this is not meant as a "perfect" sorcerer spell selection or something like that.

Basically it is just a way of displaying the results of the various polls. 

Bye
Thanee


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