Best 9th level spell for a sorcerer

[CTSparky]

Guys I'd like your advice as to what the singular most important 9th level spell is to have for a 18th level sorcerer. I just hit 18th and I want a spell that will be effective.

We mostly go with corem, but I've taken a few spells from SPC.

My current Spell list is from 4th up:
4
Assay SR (Broken spell) SPC
Greater Invis.
Stoneskin
Enervation

5
Hold monster
Feeblemind
Prismatic Ray (SPC)
Teleport

6
Chain Lightning
Disintegrate
Greater Dispel Magic

7
Antimagic Ray SPC
Avasculate SPC (Really Broken)
Limited Wish

8
Maze
Protection from Spells

9
???

 

[Pyrex]

I'd have to go with Shades as an easy pick for your first 9th level spell. Nothing comes close for versatility except Wish

Shapechange and Time Stop probably tie for 2nd place.

 

[Delta]

Prior polling data, core-rules only:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=144162

For 9th level, #1 was Time Stop, #2 was Shapechange.

 

[Christian]

That was for a wizard, though. Numbers 3 and 4 were Wish and Mordenkainen's Disjunction, neither of which make as much sense as the only spell for a Sorcerer as Shades does, even though that was way down the list. And while Time Stop is awfully good, I'd have to go with Shapechange for a Sorcerer--it's just a lot more versatile.

 

[Nifft]

IMHO shapechange. But shades is decent.

If you have XP to burn, gate is amazingly versatile, and so is wish (of course).

Cheers, -- N

 

[Warren Okuma]

Timestop. With delayed blast fireball, and later prismatic sphere + reverse gravity. Or both.

 

[Brennin Magalus]

Why is wish not the obvious choice? I should think the versatility of duplicating all sorts of spells would be a great boon for the sorcerer.

 

[Nifft]

Why is wish not the obvious choice? I should think the versatility of duplicating all sorts of spells would be a great boon for the sorcerer.

The price tag. 3/day casting is great, but 15,000 XP/day kinda sucks.

I'd rather gate in 15 Solars for that kinda price.

Cheers, -- N

 

[DaveMage]

Time Stop was my first choice when I played a high level sorcerer, but part of the benefit of time stop for me was having things to summon (or Mordenkainen's Sword).

So, in your case, I'd go with Shapechange.

 

[Arkhandus]

He doesn't have the right spells known for Time Stop to be truly effective as his one and only 9th-level sorcerer spell (though maybe later it'd be decent for his 3rd spell of that level).

He's got to pick something widely useful and worth casting multiple times per day. Wish has too high of an XP cost to likely be worth having as his 1st spell known of 9th-level. Wish is good, but he's already got Limited Wish, and it's not really something he'll want to be casting multiple times per day at the cost of several thousand XP each time.

Summon Monster IX is fairly versatile; summoning a Leonal could be handy for its spell-like abilities and other powers, and there are various other critters you can summon from the SMVIII or SMVII lists for their powers, or just to have a gang of minions to beat up foes and serve as meat shields. Sure, they're not seriously powerful, but you can summon a bunch of decent minions in 1-3 rounds, and they're still reasonably effective. Leonals can Heal 1/day, and have Lay on Hands for something like 150 HP or so, along with Cure Critical Wounds a few times per day. And some of the critters you summon have the ability to Plane Shift, so they could transport you to another plane whenever planar travel is necessary.

It's not as powerful as Gate, but it doesn't cost any XP.

Other than that, I'd suggest Shades or Shapechange, as other folks have already suggested. Gate or Wish would probably make decent 2nd or 3rd choices for 9th-level spells, but not likely so good for the 1st choice of 9th-level spell for a sorcerer.