Sorcerer "Swiss Army Knife" Spell selection

[Angel Tarragon]

so, what you are telling me is if i use a longbow, ill be doing d8-2 damage? where is that stated?

i have just never read anything like that...and that would seriously suck

No, you won't be doing -2 damage, but you are going to suffer a -2 penalty on all attack rools.

 

[moritheil]

so, what you are telling me is if i use a longbow, ill be doing d8-2 damage? where is that stated?

i have just never read anything like that...and that would seriously suck

You need at least two hands to use a bow, regardless of its size. A longbow is too unwieldy to use while you are mounted. If you have a penalty for low Strength, apply it to damage rolls when you use a longbow. If you have a bonus for high Strength, you can apply it to damage rolls when you use a composite longbow (see below) but not a regular longbow.

Str penalty also applies to slings and throwing weapons. Using a crossbow is fine at lower levels, really. If you play a low-str mage don't skimp on the teleportation spells. I don't like relying on dimension door since it burns a 4th-level slot, but some swear by it.

As a "blaster" sorc you really want to play the metamagic variant from PHBII, so you can apply metamagic without messing up your cast times.

 

[Nail]

so, what you are telling me is if i use a longbow, ill be doing d8-2 damage? where is that stated?

i have just never read anything like that...and that would seriously suck

Try reading the Ability Scores section, under Strength.

If your mage has a 7 Str, his damage rolls with thrown missile weapons or the bow have a -2 penalty.

Ditch the elf. Try a halfling instead. Higher AC.