for all those sorcerers out their who have beat the game (with out cheating) could you give me a list of the spells you had so that i have a little help? i need a good balance between offense and defense spells. and also i have played my sorcerer up to his max lvl and i cant cast lvl 9 spells and at the start his intellegence was 18 how do i cast lvl 9 spells?

[This message has been edited by nicholi (edited July 15, 2001).]

You can only cast level nine spells from scrolls in this game.

There are already lots of topics about this and you can find them by using the search engine, but anyway I will give you my view about it.

lvl 1: Identify, Magic Missile, spook
lvl 2: Blur, Mirror Image, Resist fear, Web, Melf Acid Arrow
lvl 3: Fireball, Flame Arrow, Melf's Minute Meteors, Skull Trap
lvl 4: Stoneskin, Secret Word, Confusion (and I personally like Greater malison and Wizard eye very much).
lvl 5: Breach, Chaos, Cloudkill, Lower Resistance (perhaps Spell Immunity, Minor Spell Deflection, Animate Dead)
lvl 6: Pierce Magic, Tenser's Transformation, Prot. from magical Weapons (perhaps true Sight)
lvl 7: Mordenkainen's Sword, Project Image, Ruby ray of Reversal or Khalben's Warding Whip
lvl 8: Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting, Simulacrum

And you can indeed not cast level 9 spells except from scrolls in SoA due to the experience cap.

Sorry I did write a deailed description of useful spells but then lost it (blummin PC :( ). I can't face typing it again so here is the short version.

The normal expereince cap in BG2 is level 17 for a sorcerer and you don't get to learn level 9 spells until you reach level 18. Inteligence makes almost no difference to a sorcerer and doesn't affect his ability to learn spells. Use those stat points elsewhere if you play another one.

Read the description of spells to lower magic resistance and remove spell protection very carefully. Then plan out which ones are worth getting at each level. I panicked and snapped out most of them only to see them sitting unused for much of the game.

Avoid area affect spells that also damage your own party. You will only be able to cast these once before a battle commences so they are a bit wasted on a sorcerer. Basically try not to give sorcerers spells that you are only likely to need once per day.

A lot of basic spells can be useful: magic missiles, stonskin, mass invisability, identify, death, Mordenkinen's sword, etc but it will depend greatly on your playing style and party make up.

I tended to avoid defensive spells for the sorcerer just relying on those that are associated with magical items like Staff of the Mage and that necklace that protects against level drain.

PS like any mage spells, remember that you will eventually reach high levels and many spells last for longer or do more damage at higher levels. These can be worth investing in early for the benefits later, especially for the sorcerer who hasn't the mage's luxury of an extensive spell book.

[This message has been edited by Slappy (edited July 15, 2001).]

If you install the expansion and start from SoA you can cast lvl 9 spells towards the very end of the game, since the XP cap will be removed.

Simple mathematic equasion:

Sorcerer + Imprisonment = not so fun and unbalanced.

nicholi -

As was mentioned, your spell selection will depend greatly on your playing style. Also are you going solo or in a team? For my solo sorcerer, my most heavily used spell to date (I'm just getting ready to set sail for Brynlaw and my level is 14) is spider spawn.

For the solo dude, I tend to conjur up an squad of spiders or undead (though that spell won't really shine until I get to level 15) or a Mord's sword or two. I let my minions do all the work while I (or better yet, my kitty cat familiar) stand unseen to observe.

If I have a tough enemy that tends to chew quickly through the ranks of my beasties, I make sure I have stone skin, mirror image and haste in place (and sometimes mislead) before invoking Tenser's transformation so that I can wade in and whap the snot out of the bad guys whith the Staff of Rhynn.

For you, you need to figure out what playing style makes sense for you and select spells that support that style.

Combine web with spider spawn from a distance; the result worth it! Also summon some skeleton warriors! They have many resistances, are almost immune to magic 90 % MR; and can deal a moderate damage with a good THAC0. They are also immune to the mind flayer's psionic attacks.

Do NOT use Familiar since you only use them once. Get a familiar from a scroll instead!

Find Familiar obviously should be cast from scroll. In fact, whenever I play a Sorc or other mage type, I find that's about the *only* spell I cast from a scroll.

Anyone else have that problem with limited use items? Usually I forget about them until I get to a store and want to raise cash, but even when I remember that the scrolls (or potions for that matter) are there, I usually "save them until I *really* need them." Of course they never get used. :)

Yeah I know the deal, stockpiling on potions, wands and other stuff... Until you're picking up the stuff from the fight before the last in the game and notice you can't carry anymore :p

Changed my attitude to: 'Heck, I've got a few of these so why not use them.' More appropriate and I've found that using those items is pretty fun ;)

I agree with Volar - I finally started using all that nifty magical shtuff I used to hoard for "when I really need it"... check out what happens to a spider web (ie in the tombs) when you use a wand of frost in there! (Well, it doesn't DO much per se, but the visual is worth blowing a charge or 2!)
Blast 'em!

Nivek The Mad
Destroyer of All
(in the name of balance thru chaos)