The quirkiness of Sorcery [Exalted 2e]

[KatfishKaos]

Heyp Playgrounders,

Back once again to ask for some of your knowledge. Someone invited me to a Exalted game and we went through that fine and dandy, it was short, sharp, shiny and awesome. But thats not the question.

I've decided to play a sorcerer, and my roll will be long range. There are three of us, one is a combat wombat the other being mid-range with fire sticks I think they were. That then goes to me, there are sadly only two books we can use the Black/White treatise and the Core Rulebook. But I'm looking and can't find anything that could constitute as long range.

Thanks for all of your help.

[Talkkno]

I've decided to play a sorcerer, and my roll will be long range. There are three of us, one is a combat wombat the other being mid-range with fire sticks I think they were. That then goes to me, there are sadly only two books we can use the Black/White treatise and the Core Rulebook. But I'm looking and can't find anything that could constitute as long range.

Thanks for all of your help.

Your not really supposed to use sorcery in combat.

[The Glyphstone]

From the little I know of Exalted sorcery, it's mostly rituals and big, multi-person spells. For in-combat magic, you should be using Charms I think.

[Teln]

The designers themselves admit that they intentionally designed the spells so that you'd be better off relying on Charms in combat. About the only really practical combat spell is Death of Obsidian Butterflies, and the best way to use that is for clearing the room of extras--if your Storyteller's any competent, anybody big will brush it off as a minor annoyance. Plus, you have to pay one Willpower to cast any spell at all, in addition to any cost the spell itself has.

However, this does not mean Sorcery is useless--far from it. Look at Demon of the First Circle, for example. Yeah, it takes six hours to cast, but you've got a bound slave for an entire year, said slave will obey practically any command you give it--yes, any command--, and will never try to escape until the spell expires. And you can cast that spell every single night. Stormwind Rider means you, your circle and your personal army of demons never have to worry about lengthy travel times ever again, courtesy of your own private tornado. Both those spells are core. Bring in the White Treatise (which is the sourcebook for Sorcery), and things get even crazier.

[Reynard]

Core and B&W Treatises have more than enough sorcerous goodness to last you a while. And don't forget the game actively encourages you to come up with custom spells.
But yeah, spells in combat are generally massive buff/debuffs, or do effects that screw over ghosts/elementals/demons/whatever, rather then just outright damage. But good spells for combat use are:

Terrestrial Circle:
(Core) Death of Obsidian Butterflies. Massive AoE blast. 300 square yards of 8 levels of damage per hit. Yes, Perfect Defenses will save whoever has them, but anyone that doesn't is either dead or incapacitated. This stays useful until the late game, when it can destroy great chunks of enemy armies.

(Core) Impenetrable Frost Barrier.
Not very useful against Exalts, but this will come in handy in Mass Combat, where it'll completely block out mortal archers.

(Core) Wood Dragons Claw.
Put some points into martial arts (you should have some combat skills anyway) and you will love this spell.

(B&W) Conjuring The Azure Chariot.
This is great. Cast this, and the only way you can be hit is:
A: By someone who can travel around 100-200 miles an hour, and has a Perfect Melee/MA Attack.
B: Someone with a Perfect Archer Attack.
Nothing else will be able to touch you. Again, a battlefield utility spell, though it can be nice if you need to travel a few hundred miles before sunset.

(B&W) Flight of the Brilliant Raptor.
Need to kill a lot of people in a fiery explosion? This is for you.

And there are much, much more in that circle alone. In Celestial Circle, you get even more powerful/useful spells. and Solar Circle is just insanely good.

[Sanguine]

-Stuff-

IMHO using Sorcery Above Terrestrial Circle in combat is a bad idea. 2 or 3 points of Willpower and the ridiculously long time to cast. No Thank You. Solar and Celestial Circle Sorcery is best off for stuff you do outside combat. Of course that's true of Sorcery in General but especially so with the higher circles.

[NotScaryBats]

If you want to be long range, why not be an archer or dude who throws things?
They are made specifically for combat, and don't spells take two turns to cast in combat anyway?

[senrath]

IMHO using Sorcery Above Terrestrial Circle in combat is a bad idea. 2 or 3 points of Willpower and the ridiculously long time to cast. No Thank You. Solar and Celestial Circle Sorcery is best off for stuff you do outside combat. Of course that's true of Sorcery in General but especially so with the higher circles.

Yes, using Celestial+ spells in combat is a bad idea. There are, however, "buff" spells that reside in those levels that, if you can pull off just before combat, make things easier. Such as Incomparable Body Arsenal, or God-Forged Champion of War.