I have read many great posts that listed suggested spells for Sorcerers. Unfortunately, some of those simply listed the “best” spells for each level, without taking into account the length of time it took to get those spells. (For example, there are many great 3rd level spells to choose from. However, the Sorcerer will be receiving his 4th and final precious 3rd level spell at his 11th Sorcerer level! By then he will have several 4th and 5th level spells, and will be on the verge of getting his first 6th level spell. Will some of those nifty 3rd level spells still be useful by then? Will he really be able to wait that long for others?)
So, what I want to do is create 10 threads (one for each spell level, plus one for feats) where the spells of just that level are rated according to several metrics. Then, the spells found to be most applicable to Sorcerers can be arranged in a vertical progression in the way the Sorcerer really acquires them—taking into account what other spells at other levels may be affecting the choices.
The purpose is not to find THE definitive spell list (because each character, player, group, campaign and DM are different), but to get to that core group of spells that will serve a well-rounded Sorcerer AND describe when they should be chosen and why. This is what I find most vital to any Sorcerer spell discussion.
The spell rating metrics I believe are most important to a Sorcerer are:
Scalability (Sca) – Will this spell be useful when it’s chosen, as well as all the way up to 20th level? (0 = doesn’t scale, 1 = range and/or duration increase normally with level, 2 = continues to add damage all the way to 20!)
Versatility (Ver) – Can this spell serve more than one purpose in the Sorcerer’s narrow spell pool? (0 = only has one non-combat function, 1 = used in combat constantly, 2 = can have multiple effects in combat, and maybe a non-combat use)
Reusability (Reu) – Sorcerers get many slots with which to cast very few spells over and over. Will he really need to use this spell over and over? (0 = spell will be cast once a day or less, 1 = spell may be used effectively in combat, 2 = will be a vital part of the Sorcerer’s arsenal all the way to 20)
Resistibility (Res) – Is this spell going to work most of the time or is it easily resisted (making it pointless)? (0 = multiple saves or save for no effect, 1 = save for half or NA for personal protection spells, 2 = no save, -1 for melee touch attacks—let the armored cleric have those)
I want to use a short scale to keep it simple, hence the 0, 1, 2 ratings.
NOTE: First, these ratings are MY personal opinion of these spells. I certainly welcome and encourage comments, disagreements and other suggestions. That’s what we’re here for. (I have been caught off guard many times by other player’s ingenious use of “standard” spells.) If you do disagree with this rating, please provide your own, but provide it in the format shown here. Don’t just tell us “Jump is a great spell!” Tell us why. Also, tell us where it fits in the Sorcerer’s level progression. (If the only option is to take it at 7th level, won’t the Sorcerer be able to fly by then?)
Second, these ratings are from the Sorcerer’s perspective. A wizard or cleric may be appalled that a very useful spell on their list received a poor rating. However, it just may not be a good fit for a Sorcerer.
So, before we get to meat of the thread (the progression), let’s start with some ratings:
Alarm (Abjur)
Sca – 0; Other than duration, nothing improves.
Ver – 0; Sure, it can warn of invisible creatures, and can replace the camp “watch”, but so can several other, more effective, spells. (And tell that warrior to get off his ass and keep watch like he’s supposed to!)
Reu – 0; Once a day when camping is not very reusable.
Res – 1; NA
Animate Rope (Trans)
Sca – 1; Other than duration and rope length, nothing improves.
Ver – 1; Low-level area entangle or ranged trip attack, can replace Use Rope checks, or serve as an inferior Tanglefoot bag (which has a higher break DC and more hit points).
Reu – 0; Very soon, the Sorcerer will have more effective ways to immobilize opponents.
Res – 0; Ranged touch attack plus Reflex save or Concentration check = easy to resist.
Burning Hands (Trans)
Sca – 1; Ramps up to 5d4.
Ver – 1; A low-level, area effect, damage spell.
Reu – 1; At low levels, you may use this a lot. After that, an Energy Substitution or Empower may extend the use of this.
Res – 1; Reflex half (At least some may get through.).
Cause Fear (Necro)
Sca – 0; To scale this up, you must invest in other spells (Scare, Fear).
Ver – 0; It makes one creature run, and that’s it.
Reu – 0; The Sorcerer is best at damage, and anything that might fail against this could just as easily be killed.
Res – 0; Will negates.
Change Self (Illus)
Sca – 0; To scale this up, you must invest in other spells (Alter Self, Poly Self)
Ver – 0; Useful as a disguise, but not nearly as useful as the higher-level versions.
Reu – 0; To a Sorcerer, covert, deceitful tactics take a back seat to “Blast ‘em!”
Res – 1; NA
Charm Person (Ench)
Sca – 0; To scale this up, you must invest in other spells (Charm Monster, Dominate Person).
Ver – 1; Can turn enemies into allies, but poor effectiveness in combat makes this non-combat only.
Reu – 1; Since Intimidate and Bluff aren’t class skills, this spell could replace those checks.
Res – 0; Will negates.
Chill Touch (Necro)
Sca – 2; Adds an additional touch all the way to 20th.
Ver – 1; Inflicts damage and minor ability damage, or causes fear to undead.
Reu – 1; Can be cast on familiars to give them something to do in combat.
Res – 0; Melee touch attack, plus Fortitude partial or Will negates.
Color Spray (Illus)
Sca – 2; Affects all susceptible creatures regardless of hit die, and area increases with level.
Ver – 2; Low-level area effect spell that doubles as an area effect disarm.
Reu – 1; Will be used in combat a lot at low levels, and in an emergency at higher levels.
Res – 0; Will negates.
Comprehend Languages (Div)
Sca – 0; To scale this up, you must invest in other spells (Tongues).
Ver – 0; Only works as one-way communication (read or hear), and the melee touch requirement makes this useless in combat.
Reu – 0; Purely a non-combat spell.
Res – 1; NA
Detect Secret Doors (Div)
Sca – 0; Other than duration, nothing improves.
Ver – 0; Merely speeds up the rogue’s search for secret doors – probably not used in combat.
Reu – 0; Tell your rogue to get busy or get a wand.
Res – 1; NA
Detect Undead (Div)
Sca – 0; Other than duration, nothing improves.
Ver – 0; Warns of the strength of nearby undead (possibly even the one swinging at you), but does nothing to change the inevitable “Blast ‘em!”
Reu – 0; The party cleric can do this.
Res – 1; NA
Endure Elements (Abjur)
Sca – 0; To scale this up, you must invest in other spells (Resist Elements, Protection from Elements).
Ver – 1; Absorbs any elemental damage, as well as extreme environmental effects.
Reu – 1; 24 hour duration means a Sorcerer will throw this one up daily.
Res – 1; NA
Enlarge (Trans)
Sca – 1; Scales up to a 50% increase.
Ver – 2; Strength bonus stacks with other (i.e., Cleric’s) Strength buffs, and can be used in some non-combat situations.
Reu – 0; Pretty short duration, so do you really want to spend your first few rounds of combat buffing your warriors? The growth can’t cause damage.
Res – 1; NA
Erase (Trans)
Sca – 0; Only ever effects one or two pages.
Ver – 0; Removes runes, glyphs, and sigils. Can’t the rogue do that? Also can erase an enemy caster’s scroll, but why not just ready an action to interrupt (with damage).
Reu – 0; Very rare use.
Res – 2; No save or SR, even 90% effective against held scrolls; easy caster level check.
Expeditious Retreat (Trans)
Sca – 0; Other than duration, nothing scales.
Ver – 1; Enhancement to movement that could stack with other movement bonuses.
Reu – 0; If you’re escaping combat, just run (or fly later), don’t stop to cast.
Res – 1; NA
Feather Fall (Trans)
Sca – 1; Range and duration scale up to 20.
Ver – 1; Can either stop yourself or a buddy from falling, can reduce the damage from free-falling objects.
Reu – 0; This is an emergency spell that will rarely get used. (Of course, when it does, it usually saves your hide, but…)
Res – 1; NA
Grease (Conj)
Sca – 2; Range and duration continue to increase, and continues to affect creatures up to 20th.
Ver – 2; Can be an area trip, a ranged disarm, or a low-level blind.
Reu – 1; Mostly used in combat.
Res – 1; Reflex save as long as in area, and no SR.
Hold Portal (Abjur)
Sca – 1; Range, duration, and portal size increase.
Ver – 1; Used to either prevent escape, ensure escape, or secure an inside camp.
Reu – 0; Limited to inside encounters.
Res – 2; No save or SR.
Hypnotism (Ench)
Sca – 0; Range increases, but HD affected and area are fixed.
Ver – 0; The bonus to resist and extra save in combat (and the penalty in non-combat) makes this primarily a non-combat spell.
Reu – 0; How many times a day to you get to hypnotize low HD guards?
Res – 0; Will negates, save bonus and extra save in combat.
Identify (Div)
Sca – 0; To scale this up, you must invest in other spells (Analyze Dweomer, Legend Lore).
Ver – 0; It only identifies the most basic magic item function.
Reu – 0; 8 hour casting time, plus 100gp component, means at most once a day and probably not even that.
Res – 1; NA
Jump (Trans)
Sca – 0; Only duration increases.
Ver – 0; If this has a combat use, please let me know what that is.
Reu – 0; Can’t see needing this over and over, especially when flight later will make this irrelevant.
Res – 1; NA
Mage Armor (Conj)
Sca – 1; Only duration increases, but it’s an hour per level.
Ver – 1; Armor bonus, plus AC bonus vs. incorporeal (although rare).
Reu – 1; You will use this daily, or for every combat, but may be eclipsed by magic items later.
Res – 1; NA
Magic Missile (Evoc)
Sca – 1; Scales up, but caps out at 5d4+5.
Ver – 2; Combat only, but can be used to quickly cancel mirror images, and ignores concealment.
Reu – 2; Will be used over and over in combat.
Res – 2; No save, no attack roll.
Magic Weapon (Trans)
Sca – 0; To scale this up, you must invest in other spells (Greater Magic Weapon).
Ver – 0; Buffs your party’s weapons (which the cleric can do).
Reu – 0; This isn’t for the Sorcerer, since he’ll rarely actually pick up a weapon. “I take a standard action to remove the shrink wrap from this piercing thing.”
Res – 1; NA
Message (Trans)
Sca – 0; To scale this up, you must invest in other spells (Sending).
Ver – 0; Can’t imagine a combat use for this. Oh, and why does a spell with a whispered effect have a Verbal component that must be spoken in a strong voice?
Reu – 0; Doubt a Sorcerer will even need this once a day.
Res – 1; NA
Mount (Conj)
Sca – 1; Well, duration and the distance it appears from you scales!
Ver – 0; Can we all agree, non-combat only?
Reu – 0; Once flight becomes available, this is irrelevant.
Res – 1; NA
Nystul's Magical Aura (Illus)
Sca – 1; Number of objects and duration scales.
Ver – 0; Can’t imagine this being used by anyone but the bad guys.
Reu – 0; I would love to hear why a Sorcerer would use this over and over.
Res – 1; NA
Nystul's Undetectable Aura (Illus)
Sca – 1; Number of objects and duration scales.
Ver – 0; See above.
Reu – 0; See above.
Res – 1; NA
Obscuring Mist (Conj)
Sca – 0; To scale this up, you must invest in other spells (Fog Cloud, Solid Fog).
Ver – 1; Used to prevent ranged targeting, and escaping overwhelming melee attackers.
Reu – 1; I can see casting this during several combats a day.
Res – 2; No save or SR.
Protection from Chaos/Evil/Good/Law (Abjur)
Sca – 0; To scale this up, you must invest in other spells (Magic Circle).
Ver – 2; AC bonus, save bonus, prevents mental control and hedges outsiders.
Reu – 2; Will be used a lot in combat.
Res – 1; NA
Ray of Enfeeblement (Necro)
Sca – 1; Scales up, but caps out at 1d6+5 Str damage.
Ver – 1; Probably won’t work on enemy warriors, but could encumber rogues, bards and spellcasters.
Reu – 0; There are other, more effective ways to nullify an attacker. Does not stack with itself (it’s a named Enhancement penalty).
Res – 0; Fort negates.
Reduce (Trans)
Sca – 1; Scales up to a 50% decrease.
Ver – 2; I can see multiple uses for this including nullifying an attacker, to non-combat uses like opening a stuck portal.
Reu – 0; Would be better to simply get a wand for these rare instances.
Res – 1; It gets a 2 for no save (it appears that only objects save), but a -1 for melee touch range.
Shield (Abjur)
Sca – 0; Only duration scales.
Ver – 2; Cover AC bonus (which applies to touch attacks), reflex save bonus, and negates magic missile.
Reu – 2; Will be used a LOT in combat.
Res – 1; NA
Shocking Grasp (Trans)
Sca – 1; Gets a 2 for scaling damage up to 20, but a -1 for only scaling *1 point* of damage.
Ver – 1; Something for a familiar to do in combat.
Reu – 0; The fact that it must be continually cast on a familiar means another higher-damage spell will probably be cast at the enemy instead.
Res – 1; It gets a 2 for no save, but a -1 for melee touch range.
Silent Image (Illus)
Sca – 1; To scale this up, you must invest in other spells (Minor Image, Major Image).
Ver – 1; Few combat uses, lots of non-combat uses.
Reu – 1; Gets a 2 for being able to form anything within the size limit, but -1 for having to maintain concentration.
Res – 0; Will disbelieve
Sleep (Ench)
Sca – 0; Very bad, area and HD cap are fixed.
Ver – 1; Used in combat or to prevent it.
Reu – 0; Useless at high levels. Get a wand at low levels.
Res – 0; Will negates.
Spider Climb (Trans)
Sca – 0; Only duration scales.
Ver – 0; After flight is gained, this becomes pointless.
Reu – 0; Since you have to take your boots and gloves off, you would only use this non-combat.
Res – 1; NA
Summon Monster I (Conj)
Sca – 0; To scale this up, you must invest in other spells (Summon Monster II, III, …).
Ver – 2; Once you can actually speak to these creatures, they have non-combat uses.
Reu – 0; The casting time of 1 full round prohibits frequent use of this.
Res – 1; NA
Tenser's Floating Disk (Evoc)
Sca – 1; Duration and carry weight scale, as well as how far away it appears before it automatically moves to its 5’ interval from the caster!
Ver – 1; Moves at your normal move rate, so it can provide a movement increase for slower characters, as well as other creative uses.
Reu – 0; If you constantly need this to carry your gear, get a Bag of Holding (which you could afford if you had that much gear).
Res – 1; NA
True Strike (Div)
Sca – 2; Gets a 2 because it’s already scaled to a +20 bonus.
Ver – 1; Could guarantee some later high-level ranged attack spells.
Reu – 0; This only affects you, and it then requires two actions to make the attack roll.
Res – 1; NA
Unseen Servant (Conj)
Sca – 1; Duration and range scale. This is basically an upgrade to Mage Hand.
Ver – 0; Non-combat only, it can’t attack.
Reu – 0; Well, it can set off traps, but so can summoned monsters.
Res – 1; NA
Ventriloquism (Illus)
Sca – 1; Duration and range scale. This is basically an upgrade to Ghost Sound.
Ver – 0; If you need a distraction, throw a rock.
Reu – 0; Fun for the whole family, but not a daily activity.
Res – 0; Will disbelieve (but only if they hear it…?)
Whew, that’s done. So, where does that leave us? If we take the spells that rated average or above, we get:
Burning Hands (Trans) 4
Chill Touch (Necro) 4
Color Spray (Illus) 5
Enlarge (Trans) 4
Grease (Conj) 6
Hold Portal (Abjur) 4
Mage Armor (Conj) 4
Magic Missile (Evoc) 7
Obscuring Mist (Conj) 4
Protection from Chaos/Evil/Good/Law (Abjur) 5
Reduce (Trans) 4
Shield (Abjur) 5
True Strike (Div) 4
…Thirteen spells, of which the Sorcerer can know 5. My personal methodology is to use the first spell of a new level for an offensive spell, the second spell of that level for defense, the third spell for utility, then what ever else fits for the remaining spells.
1st level:
The sorcerer gets 2 spells at first level, so these are probably one offensive and one defensive. Any damage-only spell (like Magic Missile) could be outclassed by your crossbow at 1st level, so you may want to go with something that does more than just damage, or has an area affect. You many not have the 100gp to get a familiar yet, so Chill Touch may not be the best choice. That leaves Burning Hands or Color Spray. Take your pick. Both can be metamagicked later to increase their usefulness (Heighten for C.S. and Energy Sub or Empower for B.H.). Choose well, you won’t get another spell till 3rd level.
For defense, we can go with Mage Armor, Protection from Alignment or Shield. Mage Armor will help you now, and save you that first round cast of Prot or Shield in combat later, but think about scalability. It may not be useful later levels after you get magical bracers. A Wand of Mage Armor might suffice if you can afford it. Prot will come in real handy later when you’ll encounter more frequent occurrences of mental control or outsiders; and it’s AC bonus is inferior to the other two. Also, the cleric can cast it. Shield grants a hefty AC bonus, but requires a cast every combat.
3rd level:
This might be where you’d pick up a utility spell. Grease may be a good choice here. Obscuring Mist made it to the list, but since it doesn’t scale, I’d wait for one of the other cloud spells later. Or, you could deviate from the methodology and go with Magic Missile here. It’s just gone up to 2d4+2, will out-damage your crossbow now, can hit multiple targets, and can be depended on to disrupt an enemy spellcaster.
5th level:
At this point, you’ve gotten a 2nd level spell already. The cleric can now cast Magic Circle against Evil vs. those outsiders and mental attacks. Magic Missile ramps up again here to 3d4+3. If you chose Magic Missile at 3rd, Enlarge and Reduce max out here at 50% change. I’d choose whatever you didn’t pick at 3rd (Magic Missile vs. utility spell)
7th level:
Now, you’re also getting your third 2nd level spell, and your second 3rd level spell. You probably have a couple of 2nd level buff spells, and a real nice damage dealing 3rd level spell. If you have a familiar by now, Chill Touch might be tempting. However, now you’re starting to see some mid-level monsters, and your familiar is looking quite vulnerable. Hold Portal just doesn’t seem useful anymore. What’s left? Any of the remaining utility spells: Enlarge, Grease, Reduce. Or, since you’re probably flying around like Superman now, and you don’t want to have to stay within the cleric’s 10 foot radius of Magic Circle against Evil, then Protection from Evil might give you some defensive insurance. True Strike could also be a good choice. Though you probably don’t have any ranged touch attack spells yet, this is the last chance to pick this up before you do.
Summary:
1st: Burning Hands or Color Spray; and most likely Shield
3rd: Enlarge, Grease or Reduce; or Magic Missile
5th: Magic Missile; or Enlarge, Grease, Reduce
7th: Enlarge, Grease, Reduce or True Strike; Protection from Evil
Now, your comments! Remember, for your suggestions, please rate the spell according to the format above AND be sure and tell us what level to take it. Also, tell us what you’d do with the spell it’s replacing (take it another other level, forgo it completely, etc.).
Modified: Charm Person, Chill Touch, Expeditious Retreat, Feather Fall, Ray of Enfeeblement and True Strike based on Shokatsuryou’s comments.
Modified: Animate Rope, Enlarge, Reduce and Tenser’s Floating Disk ratings based on Jaid’s comments.
[ October 18, 2002, 06:21 AM: Message edited by: phillipjp]
So here is PHILLIPJP's work:
