Author Topic: 3.5 Sorcerer Help  (Read 3804 times)

Offline Jmacc

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3.5 Sorcerer Help
« on: July 12, 2015, 01:19:05 PM »
The first character I made 8 years ago was a Satyr Sorc. It was a game that had just started with 4 very experienced players, the DM wanted us to start with a monsterious class of some sort and we couldn't be really evil, and took place in Eberron. We played until about lvl 11 and then have switched to many other games since. We recently decided tp revisit the campaign and most got to reroll their characters had to keep same classes/stats but a lot are now human. DM wants me to stay Satyr because of the role playing and gave me  a level buy back (1)  Back then I used a lot of rays (easy for a beginner) and he talked me into spell warp sniper. The current old build is
lvl 11
1 Rogue/ 6 sorc/ 3 spell warp and 1 lvl ecl (2 for a satyr seemed a bit high anyway just to headbutt and play the pipes)
10 Str
20 Dex
18 Con
16 int
12 Wis
26 Cha (cloak of cha +4)
feats
Alertness (free)
PBS
Precise Shot
Spell Pen
Practiced Spell Caster
Weapon Focus Ray

My thoughts are though wouldnt it be a lot better to just go 10 levels of sorc? And get rid of the ray feats? Seems like a lot just to get a 1D6 sneak attack and sudden ray strike. Thoughts on what I can do to optimize this a bit? I know it will never be fully optimized but as the only arcane caster (we have a druid) it just seems that when we pick this up at lvl 11 again I'm going to be pretty underwhelming. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
* I forgot all books are allowed except 9 swords even realms as long as it can make sense DM is pretty flexible


Offline Solo

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Re: 3.5 Sorcerer Help
« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2015, 02:54:59 PM »
« Last Edit: July 12, 2015, 02:59:08 PM by Solo »
"I am the Black Mage! I cast the spells that makes the peoples fall down."

Offline Jmacc

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Re: 3.5 Sorcerer Help
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2015, 10:51:30 PM »
I have to stay satyr :( And how can I get in at lvl 6 with the pre reqs?

Offline Solo

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Re: 3.5 Sorcerer Help
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2015, 10:54:43 PM »
I have to stay satyr :(
You do not have to do anything.
"I am the Black Mage! I cast the spells that makes the peoples fall down."

Offline Jmacc

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Re: 3.5 Sorcerer Help
« Reply #4 on: July 12, 2015, 11:33:24 PM »
Well if the DM says he wants you to remain Satyr and will allow me to buy back 1 lvl... but will allow me to tweak classes/feats....

Offline Solo

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Re: 3.5 Sorcerer Help
« Reply #5 on: July 13, 2015, 12:51:10 AM »
Well if the DM says he wants you to remain Satyr and will allow me to buy back 1 lvl... but will allow me to tweak classes/feats....
You tell him that you've found a wonderful new show on Netflix to spend your time on.
« Last Edit: July 13, 2015, 12:56:49 AM by Solo »
"I am the Black Mage! I cast the spells that makes the peoples fall down."

Offline Nifft

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Re: 3.5 Sorcerer Help
« Reply #6 on: July 13, 2015, 04:16:15 AM »
How about...

"My Satyr Sorcerer settled down and became an awesome archmage and he had an apprentice. My new character was his apprentice."

Then you whip out the character that you actually want to play.

Offline Unbeliever

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Re: 3.5 Sorcerer Help
« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2015, 02:58:28 PM »
What I think Solo and Nifft are trying to say, perhaps obliquely, is that you should be allowed to play the character that interests you the most.  That's a hard stance to argue with.  And, that you seem to be being singled out for negative treatment.  Which is doubly unfair given that everyone else was more experienced when this character was conceived. 

If you're 11th level, you're not gaining much from being a Satyr.  Your DM shouldn't handicap you for it.  That being said, it's only 1 level, so unless people are running at high levels of optimization, you should be able to keep up.

To answer the OP, it depends what you want to go for.  There are some exploits with Spellwarp Sniper that are pretty impressive.  I'm sure there's a detailed thread on here somewhere, but I think it combines with Wings of Flurry for unsaveable dazing.  And, then you can cheaply add Split Ray for more tormenting.  That's pretty solid, at least offensively, and you can still throw a spell known at something like Web or Solid Fog for control.

Or, you could go in a different direction entirely.  What are you most interested in doing?  And, what level of op-fu do you need to bring to keep up?  Those are the essential questions. 

Offline awaken_D_M_golem

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Re: 3.5 Sorcerer Help
« Reply #8 on: July 14, 2015, 04:37:47 PM »
I keep intending to get SavSpecies out of storage
... and it keeps Not happening.

If you don't mind playing a Tier 6 or Tier 5 game
Satyr is fine.  If you wanna start moving up the tiers
into something more powerful ... ugh it isn't easy.

DavidWL's Commoner is as good a start as any.
1) ... Mercantile , presumes the local magic mart isn't completely bare
3) ... Item Familiar , maybe a handwavey feywild-ish Animal Companion would fit better
6) ... Leadership = here's your Sorc
and chance a gander at this thread, which might help further:
http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=6306.0

Ur-Priest 4 the neutral adaptation version,
is as good a late start class as any (notice the theme).
Nar Demonbinder 1 = OK now you're the ~Sorc you didn't know you wanted to be, though quite late
Mystic Theurge X = now you start catching up to the big boys

You're a Satyr that got Satyr-ized once too often,
so you abandoned part of your upbringing,
to grasp at the tempatations of ultimate power.
Behave yourself, you don't want to give all this away.
Your codpiece is a mimic.

Offline Nifft

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Re: 3.5 Sorcerer Help
« Reply #9 on: July 14, 2015, 05:24:19 PM »
What I think Solo and Nifft are trying to say, perhaps obliquely, is that you should be allowed to play the character that interests you the most.  That's a hard stance to argue with.  And, that you seem to be being singled out for negative treatment.  Which is doubly unfair given that everyone else was more experienced when this character was conceived.
Yeah, that's what I'm saying, absolutely.

@Jmacc, if you sounded interested in playing a Satyr Sorcerer, then I'd be delighted to help you take it in some direction or other... but you don't sound happy at the idea of playing a Satyr Sorcerer.

Therefore, my advice is: don't play a Satyr Sorcerer.

- - -

One hilariously ugly idea: Binder 1 / Sorcerer 4 / Anima Mage ++.

"I was never a Satyr, I was just bound to Amon this whole time."

Offline Jmacc

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Re: 3.5 Sorcerer Help
« Reply #10 on: July 16, 2015, 10:01:50 PM »
It's not that I really dont want to play it, it's more that it's frustrating looking at him on paper and seeing how he's the weak link in a very optimized party. It's pretty heavy on role playing and he was the party favorite in that regard. It has been several years since we played the campaign and at the time I was more than happy throwing rays of enfeeblement and scorching ray, but over the years I've learned spellcasting and just scratching my head trying to figure out the best way to narrow the gap a bit (the level buyback was a BIG help to only be ECL1) between the rest of the party and myself.
Sorcs obv arent great at having super versatility anyway, but just casting the same 3 spells might get a little boring if we play it a lot. (I'm probably spoiled now because lately I've been playing an archivist that spends all his money on scrolls to scribe into his spell shard)

Would it be possible to work Unseen Seer in the build? Or is that just a wizard build. And do something like Rogue 1/Sorc 4/ get into unseen seer and start bouncing unseen seer and spellwarp sniper levels every other level? Or is that starting to water it down too much?
« Last Edit: July 16, 2015, 10:37:39 PM by Jmacc »

Offline Nifft

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Re: 3.5 Sorcerer Help
« Reply #11 on: July 17, 2015, 11:43:36 AM »
It's not that I really dont want to play it, it's more that it's frustrating looking at him on paper and seeing how he's the weak link in a very optimized party. It's pretty heavy on role playing and he was the party favorite in that regard. It has been several years since we played the campaign and at the time I was more than happy throwing rays of enfeeblement and scorching ray, but over the years I've learned spellcasting and just scratching my head trying to figure out the best way to narrow the gap a bit (the level buyback was a BIG help to only be ECL1) between the rest of the party and myself.
So... the big issue I see with a Satyr is not the +2 LA, especially since you said you have LA buy-back, but rather the 5 fey HD on which you can't use buy-back.

But then you say you're ECL 1, which means no racial HD. Is that correct? You're able to ignore the 5 racial HD?

Sorcs obv arent great at having super versatility anyway, but just casting the same 3 spells might get a little boring if we play it a lot. (I'm probably spoiled now because lately I've been playing an archivist that spends all his money on scrolls to scribe into his spell shard)

Would it be possible to work Unseen Seer in the build? Or is that just a wizard build. And do something like Rogue 1/Sorc 4/ get into unseen seer and start bouncing unseen seer and spellwarp sniper levels every other level? Or is that starting to water it down too much?
Unseen Seer can work well for a Sorcerer. It increases your spells known.