Little help choosing spells

[senrath]

Alright, for a new campaign I am in (for which I don't really know the setting...yet. Curse the DM), I'm playing a Human Sorcerer 9/Wild Mage 1 with a Raven familiar that speaks common.

For magic items I have a Ring of Sustenance, a Hat of Disguise, a Bag of Holding Type I, Hand of the Mage, a Pink and Green Ion Stone, and a Tan Bag of Tricks.

I can't remember what my feats or skills are at the moment, but I know that they were chosen to allow me to be a Wild Mage.

Anyhow, I haven't picked any of my spells yet, and am having a hard time doing so. I prefer to have mostly direct combat spells, with a few utility spells on the side. Any ideas? Oh, and I have access to Complete Arcane (duh), Complete Mage, Spell Compendium, and PHBII. I have other books somewhere, but I can't remember what they are at the moment, so feel free to suggest anything.

[Keld Denar]

Alright, for a new campaign I am in (for which I don't really know the setting...yet. Curse the DM), I'm playing a Human Sorcerer 9/Wild Mage 1 with a Raven familiar that speaks common.

So, you can cast 5th level spells. Very nice. You are in the very heartland of D&D casting. Order of importance is from top down.

1st
Ray of Enfeeblement
Nerveskitter
Truestrike
Identify
Protection from Evil

2nd
Glitterdust
Web
See Invisibility
Alter Self (kind of cheesey)
Invisibility

3rd
Fly
Ray of Exhaustion
Greater Magic Weapon

4th
Evards Black Tenticles
Eneveration
Dimension Door

5th
Solid Fog
Solid Fog
Solid Fog

[Tempest Fennac]

In regards to other Level 5 spells, Freezing Fog could be useful:

Freezing Fog(CArc p108)
<Conj(creat)[cold], VS, 1StdAct, Medium-range,
1min/lvl, no save, no SR>
– Creates a 20’ radius, 20’ high Cloud.
Anything within the fog takes the following:
a) 1d6 Cold damage each round;
b) must make a Reflex save each round to
avoid falling Prone. Even if successful, a
Balance check vs. DC 10 is required to
move, which is limited to 5’. If the check
is missed by more than 5, the target falls
anyway;
c) –2 penalty on melee attacks & damage;
d) –6 penalty on ranged weapon attacks; &
e) anything falling through the fog is slowed
as if it had only fallen 10’.

Baleful Polymorph and Feeblemind could also be useful to you, as could Greater Blink and Mass Fly (page 32 of http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/rules...ererWizard.pdf ).

[FinalJustice]

That's a really cool spell-list up there, but I personally prefer something more damage-based than debuffing.

I'd go for:

1-
Mage Armor
Nerveskitter
Protection Against Evil
True Strike
Shield (only if really like AC) / Magic Missile (I usually don't leave home without them)

2-
Glitterdust
Scorching Ray (8d8 with a second level spell, nice)
Dimension Hop (PH II nerfed dimension door)
See Invisibility (Always Useful)
Scale Weakening (SC)(Lowers natural armor, you get some serious love from your melees)

3-
Fly
Lightning Bolt/Fireball (Fireball has better area, but two fire spells in the arsenal is kinda redundant)
Dragonskin (Dracon/SC if you really wanna be an AC bitch)/ Protection Against Element/ Dispel Magic

And here comes the cheese, I LOVE the 4th level
4-
Celerity (PHII) or Ruin Delvers Fortune (SC)
Orb of Force (damages even golems)
Polymorph (I told you about the cheese)

5-
Solid Fog
or
Wall of Force (Celerity + WoF is a really cool defensive stunt, although it's spell-expensive)
or
Blink, Greater (Blink without miss chance, cool IMHO)


Be sure to have some teleport scrolls to compensate the lack of Dimension Door, and they never ever get useless.

[Tempest Fennac]

What does Nerveskitter do? I've never heard of that spell before. Also, Haste would be a good choice of 3rd Level spell.

[Keld Denar]

What does Nerveskitter do? I've never heard of that spell before. Also, Haste would be a good choice of 3rd Level spell.

Nerveskitter is an immediate +5 init modifier. It is specially worded that you can cast as initiative is being rolled.

Haste would be ok, if you have a really melee-centric party. If you only have 1-2 melees, they would be better off supplying their own haste via Boots of Speed (DMG, 12,000g)

[Tempest Fennac]

Thanks for explaining (that's a good point about Haste). Would Slow be a good choice?

[purepolarpanzer]

I don't have the lin on me right now, but Logi Ninja made a guide to wizards that applies just as well to sorcerors. Immensely helpful to me. Try searching for it, or wait for someone to post a link.

I'm serious. He's the goddamn batman.

[Tempest Fennac]

Here it is: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18500 (I'd forgotten about it).

[Keld Denar]

Thanks for explaining (that's a good point about Haste). Would Slow be a good choice?

Oh, slow. I forgot about this little gem of a spell. Yes, take slow. Its a multitarget win spell. Since its will based, it works on the type of targets that tend to come in multiple numbers. Like mooks. Even giant mooks. Giant mooks that would love nothing better than to trade full attacks vs your party. Keep em away with this useful spell.

(seriously, I once turned a BAD SITUATION (TM) into an easy win for my party with this spell. Something like 3 frost giants and 4 hill giants vs a level 9 party. They all failed, and were quickly eaten up by the party melees without as much fear of being full attacked, because full attacking power attacking giants can DO DAMAGE!)

[Epic_Wizard]

Nerveskitter is also out of Magic of Faerun which may or may not be available to you.

Personally I like spells that have somewhat out of the box applications like using a Wall of Stone to provide a base for a Transmute Rock to Lava (I think this is allowed but I don't have my books in front of me).

Just from the SRD I would suggest
0 lvl
Detect Magic
Read Magic
Acid Splash(good for finishing off Trolls ect)
Mage Hand
Mending

1st lvl
Shield (Magic Missiles is not something you want to be hit with) and/or
Mage Armor (This works on other people too if you aren't worried about Magic Missile)
Protection from Evil
Magic Missile (force effects FTW)
Feather Fall
Ray of Enfeeblement

Depending on if you have a Wizard in your party you may want utility spells like:
Hold Portal
Identify
Detect Secret Doors
Mount

Utility spells are better for a Wizard to have especially if it's something that you may not be using out in the field but back at base since they can research as many spells as they want or can steal enemies spell books.

Sorry this post can't be longer but I have to go now. Maybe over the weekend I will dig into my stacks of books and look up some better stuff.

[Chronos]

I dunno, I think Slow is a bit over-rated. They can still partial charge, and spellcasters can still cast most of their spells. I suppose it's good for things with a lot of attacks in their full attack routine, but that's a touch too situational for my taste.

And I'm surprised that nobody's mentioned Stinking Cloud, yet. It's a save-or-suck and a battlefield-control, since the cloud sticks around. And unlike Slow, your targets can't do anything to you if they fail their saves.