Choosing sorcerer spells

[jensun]

Will save.. theres lots of these and they come in different flavors, single and multiple. I hear a lot of people saying to take fear or confusion.. they're good spells, but i never could get past the negative of fear: if the enemy runs further into the dungeon/castle/whatever, they may come back with friends. I passed it by. Confusion is also great, but what if that nasty enemy rolls on the 'come beat your brains out' percentage? I also passed it by.. along with fear they're bursts, so it also cant be cast into mellee unless carefully. I took slow: the targets are controllable and the enemy can only take a move or standard action, if i remember right.

I would also advise taking a single target will save spell: a hold spell is a good choice.

Fortitude save is tricky, theres a lot of good options, most single target, take whichever fits your concept, most are game winners on a failed save: baleful polymorph, even blindness or bestow curse can render an enemy ineffective.

For Will saves I tend to go with one of Charm Monster, Hold Person or Feeblemind.

For Fortitude Baleful Polymorph is probably best although Blindness is ace at low level. Disintegrate, although a Fort spell is one I would always take, if only to get ris of annoying Wall of Force and Forcecage.

For reflex, direct damage really struggles to cut it in 3e. Spell damage has remained mostly static while HP have increased significantly across editions.

For area control, Web, Stinking Cloud, Solid Fog and Evards are all very strong contenders.

 

[Nail]

I find 2nd and especially 4th level much harder to decide, actually.

Agreed.

If I were you, I'd consider proposing new spells to the DM that are essentially "improved" versions of some of those 3rd level spells you like (but were unable to take).

 

[Engilbrand]

I would recommend also playing those spells like they are Force. Take Fly later. It is the power of Force lifting you off of the ground. While not all of the spells will have the Force desciptor, they can all of the same theme.

 

[Fedifensor]

Well, for the prestige classes you listed, spells with the [force] descriptor are pretty much a no-brainer.

I've found glitterdust and slow to be excellent spells for a sorcerer - they affect multiple targets, and are devastating against fighter characters (who are also weak to will saves).

Otiluke's resilient sphere is another nice spell, able to neutralize any Medium-size or smaller foe who fails a Reflex save. At higher caster levels, it can do the same to Large-size creatures.

If you happen to be playing in Eberron, I would take a close look at dimension leap from Magic of Eberron. This 2nd level spell works as well as dimension door for getting a character out of grapples.