any recommendations for good sorcerer spells?

[superkurt13]

Going to be playing an 8th level sorcerer and I wanted to see if you could recommend any good spells. I've come across some spell lists on other boards but they seem to be a bit dated and don't have any of the cool spells from recent books (like Wings of Cover from Races of the Dragon).

If you could please recommend any good 1st through 4th level spells from the more recent books, or point me to a link of a good spell list, I would appreciate it.

 

[Aurora]

What kind of sorcerer do you want to play? Do you have access to any books? If you do, I would recommend looking at prestige classes and seeing if there is one you want to work towards. Do you want to focus on a certain kind of magic? Offensive only, defensive only, necromancy, etc? Scorching Ray is a freaking fantastic 2nd level spell. Ice storn (3rd level) is nice because it doesn't have a saving throw. That can really come in handy. Fly is good because as a sorcerer you may find yourself needing to get away True Strike (1st level) will be very helpful if you plan on getting into combat at all. Good luck!

 

[Milkman Dan]

I also play a sorcerer. I started off at 11th level, so I got to build one from the grounds up. I quickly realized what a powerful option it is to cast the same spell over and over and over. It might not be very creative but it works. Here are some of the spells I picked up, 1st to 4th.

1st Level

I just had to have magic missile, because it's reliable. If you have a good Dex score, the lesser orb spells can be nice too, at least until you pick up the orb spells at 4th. I have bracers of armor +3 (I'm 12th) so I have shield (otherwise pick up mage armor); gotta have some protection against those archers. Ray of enfeeblement can help reduce damage from strong enemies, especially if it's Empowered. I haven't used true strike yet, but with all those ranged touch spells I have, it's only a matter of time.

2nd Level

My character is very good at bluffing, so alter self suits him well. (He once disguised himself as a NPC we kidnapped to stave off suspicion. Doesn't sound as reprehensible as it was.) See invisibility and glitterdust are both useful against invisible foe, but you'll have to choose between range, and additional effects (I picked glitterdust solely for the dual effect). Mirror image can save your life (again, stupid archers), and of course scorching ray is amazingly powerful for its level, and gets better when Empowered. Invisibility is useful to hide from enemies, spying, or even just getting away from that ogre who just surprised you.

3rd

Dispel magic, definitely, until you pick up greater dispel magic; gotta have some way to weaken those enemy spellcasters, or remove buffs from frontline enemy warriors. Your party is gonna love haste. If you are careful, every single fight, they will be hasted. Then, there's fireball or lightning bolt, pick your poison. Fly is priceless.

4th

One of my favorite spells is Evard's black tentacles. Since sorcerers already have high Charisma, I also picked up charm monster, though it's more useful in social situations than actual combat. Orb spells let you do good damage and have an additional effect.


(I have to disagree about ice storm though. Yeah, it doesn't offer a save, but even a 10 dice fireball can do more of damage on a successful save. A sorcerer should pick spells that scale up as well. If you want to take out rogues, there are better options than area spells IMHO, not the least of which are orb spells.)

I haven't picked them yet, but chain missile (3rd) and especially ruin delver's fortune (4th) sound awfully nice. The first lets you fire off up to ten magic missiles, and each individual missile can ricochet to a secondary target. The second is cast as a swift action, and lets you gain a bonus on a single save equal to your Cha modifier (along with a secondary effect such as evasion or immunity to poison) or bonus hit points for 1d4 rounds.

The new spells I described are all in the Spell Compendium.

 

[Dracorat]

Scorching Ray. Definitely.

As a sorcerer, you will want to get as many Metamagic feats as you can cut your teeth on.

 

[QuaziquestGM]

Summon Monster. If you take the high level version of it you get to summon multiple firends into combat pretty much whereever you want too, and they stick around for a long time. sometimes haveing 1d4+1 buddies from the list 2 levels below are better than 1d3 from the list below or the 1 biggy that you can get.

And elementals are very versital.....earth glide.....fire damage....shorting out electrical foes....blowing flyers away....opening doors....

 

[Thurbane]

Summon Monster. If you take the high level version of it you get to summon multiple firends into combat pretty much whereever you want too, and they stick around for a long time. sometimes haveing 1d4+1 buddies from the list 2 levels below are better than 1d3 from the list below or the 1 biggy that you can get.

And elementals are very versital.....earth glide.....fire damage....shorting out electrical foes....blowing flyers away....opening doors....

Damn straight - Summon spells are great for Sorcerors, you can keep popping up new minions every round. If you've got feats to spare, grab SF: Conjuration and Augmented Summoning. You might wanna throw some other Conjuration spells in your list to take advantage of SF, too...

 

[Thanee]

Dispel magic, definitely, ...

I wouldn't call that a definite. It's a good spell, but hardly a must-have. There are many other ways to deal with spellcasters, or buffed-up fighters. Unless your games see those threats a lot, then it might be more important to have.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Particle_Man]

There is always the "Fly - Fireball - Greater Invisibility" trifecta. It is a nice combo.

 

[WarlockLord]

Phantasmal Killer is nice, because save or die is FUN!

Enervation is also good for dealing with spellcasters, or people with high saves. Thise negative levels hurt just about everybody!

Polymorph is just plain cool (at least, prior to the errata. I have no idea of where the errata can be found)

 

[frankthedm]

The save or die from phantasmal killer takes 2 saves. Chances are only a rogue will fail both a will and a fort in a row.

Enervation is also good for dealing with spellcasters, or people with high saves. Thise negative levels hurt just about everybody!

Yeah, but some DMs read the rules for negative levels from this spell as spawning wights 1d4 days later if the spell kills someone. A sorcerer has to use his spells a lot so the walking boddies can pile up as it were.

I think Feeblemind is a fun spell. Turn Rival spellcasters into drooling idiots.