Which Is The Stronger Character Class - Sorcerer or Wizard?

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I wouldn't try to cast three fireballs in a day. I'd rather cast Fireball and two different spells instead.

I'd hate to run into something immune to fire if I was built like that. I'd rather have a Fireball and a Lightning Bolt than the potential to cast five Fireballs, is I guess what I'm saying.

I've never had my wizard PCs die or even lose consciousness, if that counts for anything.

 

[Pants]

Sorcerers REALLY shine when you take Metamagic feats into consideration. Spontaneous metamagic is a SERIOUS advantage and the full-round casting time is not that big of a deal. With a wizard, you have to decide which spells you want to metamagic beforehand and you get, generally, less slots to devote. A sorcerer gets both more spell slots that can be used to cast their one or two high level spells over and over or to metamagic up their lower level spells whenever they need to. Big advantage and I had a blast playing my 10th level sorcerer who could shoot out empowered magic missiles or acid arrows whenever he felt he needed one.

Preparation sucks

The problem with sorcerers, IMO, comes from their lack of features. They have literally no reasons not to take a prestige class that offers full caster advancement. Wizards have bonus feats and familiars, sorcerers have... er familiars. Nothing else.

Plus they'll pretty much always suffer in skills with respect to wizards and they don't really get too many skills either, let alone Charisma based ones.

The staggered spell advancement really only becomes 'truly' noticeable if there's another arcane spellcaster in the party, but it's still a drawback.

I think that, if played well, there's not a very noticeable difference in power between the two, but IMO the wizard holds the edge.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Quoting myself:

Originally Posted by Lord Tirian
For everyone who care 'bout the balance between Sorcerers and Wizards, the sorcerer is indeed worse, because he has delayed spells, and even on higher levels he only tops out at two spells more than the Wiz (and a specialist is even closer)... and look: A sorcerer gets on fourth level 3 x 2nd level spells, the specialist wizard has 3 x 2nd level spells as well at this point, making the difference quite small.

If you leave half of your top-level spell slots open as a wizard and may face a threat, take a lunch break and fill your slots... instant flexibility.

Hence the opinion that Sorcerers are bad... and not only the staggered spell progression, they also suffer the lack of bonus feats (whopping five, if you count Scribe Scroll as bonus feat)... you see the line of argumentation?

However, if you're game table isn't filled with a crowd of optimizers, you'll see that the sorcerers are worse, but not fighter-worse, just... not wizard power.


However, if you don't know how to prepare your wizard very carefully, the spontaneity of the sorcerer will win (and it's fun not to worry 'bout your daily spells, so sorcerers are indeed a fun class).

Of course if you leave your top level spell slots open you may not always have the time to "take a lunch break" so that you can memorise the spells you need. You might be dead because you didn't have any top level spells to use!

Olaf the Stout

 

[WhatGravitas]

Of course if you leave your top level spell slots open you may not always have the time to "take a lunch break" so that you can memorise the spells you need. You might be dead because you didn't have any top level spells to use!

Olaf the Stout

That's why you always carry a wand brimming with arcane power!
(Which gives the wizards almost as much firepower as the Sorcerer, albeit it eats up their money/XP), hence the reason why you only use it as an emergency-tool.

EDIT: Or, on higher levels, have a contingency that 'ports you into security...

Of course, it makes the wizard harder to play, since they've plan for everything.

 

[Psion]

Wizards.

Specialist wizards get nearly as many spells per day as a sorcerer. The preparation limit is not near so telling if you factor in the 15 minute rule and scrolls. And the compensation that sorcerers pay for advantages (like being half a spell level behind) are pretty telling.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I wouldn't try to cast three fireballs in a day. I'd rather cast Fireball and two different spells instead.

I'd hate to run into something immune to fire if I was built like that. I'd rather have a Fireball and a Lightning Bolt than the potential to cast five Fireballs, is I guess what I'm saying.

I've never had my wizard PCs die or even lose consciousness, if that counts for anything.

If you are a Sorcerer though you wouldn't necessarily be limited to just Fireball. You could have both spells if you wanted to. And unlike the Wizard, you wouldn't have to decide beforehand that you were going to have 3 Fireball spells for the day.

Of course a Sorcerer has a limit to how many spells he knows per level so your flexibility is limited in that respect.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Wraith-Hunter]

In terms of power the wizard shines.

As a class feature you get scribe scroll. Now you can have as many and more spells per day as a sorceror. Yes you need some time money and xp but the sorceror can't di it at all. Even if he could he has an extremely limited spell selection. Wth scribe scroll you get the sorcerors advantage and the wizard flexibility.

Bonus feats. The wizard gets 5. Sorceror zero. Use one for craft wand and again you can have and surpase the sorcerors spells per day. Lots of ways to use these bonus feats.

Specialist wizards get almost as many spells per day as a sorceror.

Skills. Wizards get more skill points because sorcerors prime ability score is charisma.

Spells 1 level earlier forthe wizard

Ease of play goes to the sorceror.

I don't think that the advantage wizards have over sorcerors is game breaking however. Personally I would like to see sorcerors get some more cheese: Say 4 skill points per level and add a few more skills to the list, or let the sorcerors chose 2 skills to be class skills. Give them enchew materials for free at first level, fits with the flavor well and hey the wizards get scribe scroll for free. Maybe get some extra ability or something on the same levels as wizards get free feats.

As it stands now there is absolutely NO reason not to take a PrC with full caster progression. There should be some in game reason to stay with a class for the whole progression. I think the new base classes are a good look at how to balance a class to get players to keep up with it for the whole progression.

 

[Anson Caralya]

I like the idea of the sorcerer, I like the thought of something that plays different from the wizard/magic-user while filling the same role, I'm always experimenting with them, but I always come to the same conclusion: wizards are hands-down more powerful. I think you could eliminate the metamagic casting time penalty or give them the wizard's bonus feats and they might be equivalent.

 

[Nyeshet]

I nearly did not vote. The wizard knows more spells, but the Sorcerer can cast more spells. That, in and of itself, seems balanced. However, the wizard also receives more feats and - due to Int being its casting ability of choice - has more skill points. Therefore did I vote wizard. If the Sorcerer at least received the same number of bonus feats as the Wizard, I would have likely chosen the 'they are balanced' option.

Personally, I think that whenever v3.75 comes out (and I tend to think this is more likely than a v4), the Sorcerer should/will have bonus feats - but will only be able to choose Metamagic and Heritage feats. Granted, we will need a few more heritage feats (fae, etc).

 

[Stalker0]

Wizard any day of the week. I wizard has a much broader access to a whole range of spells. For a PC, its all about handling a variety of different encounters. Wizards do that better than sorcs. They have more skill points, more feats, can quicken spells, and let us not forget that wizards get higher level spells faster.

To me there is no real comparison. Sorcs can be fun, but for power a wizard is king.