Mage Strategy
Sorcerers are a powerful class late in the game, but start out very weak. They need time to build out their mana level and their spell levels before they can become strong. But getting to that level is not always easy.
Early Mage Strategy
So let's
start with what you have... A grade2 firebolt spell. This should be your prime
method of attack from the very beginning. And a staff of charged bolt, with
40 charges. For now, this is your only lightning-based spell. So value it. The
witch Adria can recharge it for you, but that will cost a lot of money (we'll
deal with that overcharging shops here in Tristram later on...). You can recharge
it yourself, but at the level of skill you have at the moment, this will lower
the charges it can hold significantly. I advise some common sense when pondering
recharges. If you find a book of Charged Bolt early, you'll have a lightning
attack of your own, and should not waste any more money on recharges, but do
it yourself. But until then I'd better pay that ripoff witch, and preserve the
staff for emergencies.
Then there are your lives' savings... How much will that be? 100 gold perhaps...
What should you do with them? Many advocate to buy some protective cloak and
perhaps a cap at Griswold... But think about it: These will only protect you
marginally and only against the very weakest monsters. The 100 gold will be
spent for something that becomes obsolete in no time. I'm a strong follower
of the "offense is the best defense" philosophy, and would rather
buy two mana potion for that. That will be enough mana to shoot a good number
of monsters BEFORE they hit you...
Now you enter the dungeon for the first time... Be prepared. Ready the spells
you have in your mental "drawers", so you can cast them fast...
[Note: set spell hotkeys by hitting "S", moving the mouse cursor over
the spell and hitting one of the F5-F8 keys to assign this key as the Hotkey.
I suggest you use F5 for Firebolt and F6 for charged bolt and stick with that
setup - F5=fire F6=lightning for the rest of your life]
Ok, you see your first enemy, what should you do? Don't try the way of the warrior.
Don't run TOWARDS the monsters, and try to hit them. Some of you who believe
in reincarnation may have BEEN a Warrior in a previous life. Get rid of the
habits. You're weak, you are an intellectual. Let the monsters come to you!
And learn to retreat a lot! That has nothing to do with cowardness, only with
intelligence. Getting yourself killed isn't going to save the world. Fighting
from a better tactical position might... I have brothers and sisters, who are
Warriors or Rogues, who would advise the very same thing. Even a wise warrior
will choose the place and time of battle, and not charge blindly into the fray!
Wait for your enemies, and don't let too many at once notice you. Advance SLOWLY!!!
Then LEARN about the enemies.
In the beginning, money is scarce. You may have to preserve your mana (something
you should never do later) and kill some monsters by bashing them with that
wooden stick. Learn which ones you can hit with the stick. Your basic zombie
is slow and stupid, even a weak and clumsy mage can hit it. So if it's one -
use the staff. If three are coming your way - shoot two. The fallen ones are
weak and cowardly, they will run away every time one falls. You can handle a
single one with the staff. If more are coming, shoot one with a firebolt, or
cast some Charged bolts from your staff to thin them out. Be careful about skeletons.
They are not THAT easy to hit (remember: a warrior hits 20% better than you
do, just for BEING a warrior, he hits harder and has critical hits, and he swings
most weapons faster - so don't waste time to imitate him) and they can hurt
if they hit. The good thing is, your staff, other than a sword, does full damage
against them (a club will even do 50% extra). If more than one skeleton comes
at you, again, use firebolts and charged bolts from your staff. NEVER try to
beat it out with the scavengers. These animals are quick, tough, and really
HURT. But a single firebolt will in most cases kill them. Same goes for any
flying critters. Shoot first, ask questions later...
A note on spellcasting:
Try to shoot at straight lines. Along the dungeon walls or at a 45 degree angle.
You'll hit better. And try to shoot at closer distance first, until your magic
skill improves. 2-3 squares are a good distance. Use doorways and other choke
points to channel the enemies (remember: THEY come to YOU, not vice versa!),
much like a warrior would. You'll hit better that way. Don't be too shy about
the charged bolts, cast two or three or even more of them to flood small rooms
filled with monsters. Then switch to Firebolt or the staff to finish off the
rest. And try to learn, as you advance and the critters become tougher, just
how many shots they need to die. Don't fire a firebolt, wait, shoot another,
wait some more and see if it might drop... Once you know "Flesh clan goat,
usually 3 shots", fire 3 Bolts in quick succession at every one. It saves
precious time and won't let them advance. Sometimes you will waste a shot 'cause
the second killed it already, but rather waste one bolt, than get hit. Oh,
and: learn the critters strengths and weaknesses! Learn what kind of attack
they resist or later what they are immune against. Saves precious time.
Spells to look for:
In the beginning the most important spells are Firebolt, charged bolt, Holy
Bolt (For the undead it is VERY effective) and healing. Healing yourself with
spell is cheaper than red pots, but in emergencies you should drink potions
from your belt and rather keep shooting the beasts that hurt you while doing
so.
[I never hotkey healing with a mage - unless very early I HAVE no other spells
to choose. I heal myself in a quite moment by using the spellbook and drink
potions in a tight spot.]
Once you find your first Book of Mana Shield, all the healing becomes obsolete
anyway. And that is the single most important spell to look for when you advance.
Don't enter the caves without it :) Firewall is a very cost-effective low-level
spell that can clear entire rooms in the church and catacombs. The good thing
is, it burns while you do something else, like firebolting everything that comes
through. Learn to use it well! Learn to cast it quick to cover your retreat
and to cast it in straight lines behind doors. Lightning will replace Charged
bolt later. Learn to use it to its best effect, by retreating around corners,
to line up your pursuers. The more you hit in a row, the better...
Now, as you advance in skill, what should you train? Well, my somewhat biased
opinion: Don't bother with anything that helps you hit critters over the head.
Focus on magic. I see a lot fledgeling mages making push-ups, lifting weights
and practising their hand-eye coordination. I say: forget it! You need no dexterity
to hit with your spells. You need to train your magic skill. Even with some
strength, you'll NEVER match the Warrior's fighting skill. Concentrate on your
strengths and don't whine about your weaknesses. You should avoid being hit
alltogether, so don't bother boosting your vitality. Once you have Mana Shield,
you can take more than even the sturdiest Warrior! The only reason one might
want to build strength, is to be able to use a set of Mail Of Sorcery or a Staff
of Wizardy :) Once you are a mage of the 26th circle, you are entitled to buy
Elixiers at the witch. You can take care of Strength and Dex then.
[Or in short: put all lvl-up points into magic :)]
That brings us to the items to look for. My first advice: Never BUY armor in
the beginning. Never BUY weapons. Use your scarce money for Books and blue pots.
Spells are your offense and defense. Focus on them. Of course, make use of everything
you may come upon and that may look useful (No, I won't lecture about my personal
preference for cursed gear), but don't spend money you don't have for things
that are less important than your spell grades. Sell everything you don't really
need to buy books and Blues. Later, if money is available, look for things that
add to your magic skill, mana or spell levels above all. Buy every book of Firebolt,
Charged bolt, Holy bolt, Fire Wall, etc. You can find. The spells become cheaper
and more effective as you advance. You should not BUY the following, once you
know the spells: Town portal, Mana Shield, Healing. That would be a waste of
money.
One sidenote though: Enchanted shrines are the mage's favourite, as they raise
ALL your spell levels by one, and decrease only ONE by a level. Early in the
game you may want to make sure that you got all VITAL spells at least at lvl
2 before touching one, so it won't lower that spell to lvl0 and make it unusable
And: should you find one of those beauties extremely early in your travels,
don't touch it, note the position and return later, when you know more spells.
That way you'll profit more from it.
Some more survival tips:
Organize your belt. The second you need to think about which belt pouch to grab
for is the second you'll die. In the beginning, have some healing potions ready
for emergencies. Use small pots in the beginning, full pots, though they are
overprized later when money is less tight. It's some safety that pays off. Once
you have Mana shield, you won't need Pepin's pots any more. A good belt setup
then is: only big blues, but on the two closest position. Use a Big yellow (yeah,
the hilariously overprized) one in the first, a Scroll of mana shield in the
second pouch. In an emergency, two quick grabs will get you full up and running
again.
[Belt position 1 (Full rejuv) and 2 (scroll of MS) - hit a quick 1-2 while walking
away from the enemy - the "Oh my god I'm gonna die!" keys)
Practise your mental discipline. Know which spell is in which area of your mind.
Cast them at a second's notice without thinking.
[Translation: learn your Hotkeys!!]
And the most important:
NEVER TOUCH ANY SHRINE YOU DON'T KNOW THE EFFECT OF!!! (Especially Goat shrines
or cauldrons, whose effects are random) There are 3 shrines that can cripple
the aspiring sorceror for LIFE! The FASCINATING, ORNATE, and SACRED shrines
raise one rather insignificant spell by two grades, but lower your maximum mana
pool by 10% PERMANENTLY! I have seen valued colleagues commit SUICIDE when they
found out, they were more than 100 mana short of what they could have been!
Get a list of the shrines effects and NEVER touch one when in doubt!
A side note on the two toughest enemies in lower levels: Catch "The Butcher"
behind a grate or in the stairs down to lvl3. Use firebolt and/or a scroll of
Firewall you may have found by then to barbeque him. Use holy bolts on "King
Leoric". Don't try to hit any of these two with sticks...
Sorcerer Sub-Categories
When you start getting more experienced and get Lv. 30+, you will have to branch off into a sorcerer sub-category. There are two types of sorcerers: Armored Mages and Artillery Mages.
Armored (Tank) Mage
- Royal Circlet or unidentified Gotterdamerung
- Stormshield
- Dreamflange or Haste weapon
- Awesome or Saintly Full plate
The armored mage has a goal of upping the armor class to the point where he can teleport blind into a room and not get locked up in stun. Stormshield and the circlet add 20 to strength, and the armored mage must make up the 25 strength bonus (35 if you use unidentified gotterdamerung) some other way, preferably with a titans item or a combination resistance/strength adder item. The armored mage has no resistance on any of his items, so he has to find resistance on jewelry. These restrictions lead to a lower mana ball, and his spell power maxes at 16th level.
Artillery Mage
- Thinking Cap
- NAJ Plate
- Arch Angels staff
An Artillery mage has +5 casting levels. He is lightly armored, and must stand back. The cap + the plate offer an intrinsic +40% resist all, so he only needs one obsidian item to max out resistance. Because he has no strength requirement to wear the armor, his other slots are available for nice things like dragons rings of wizardry and the like. A necessity is a harmony item. Artillery mages can not take close melee fighting. They have trouble with creatures like Illusion weavers. They must fight from a distance, and rely upon stone curse to prevent creatures from engaging them in hand to hand combat. The mentality with the Artillery mage is 'it won't survive my awesome spell power to get close enough'.
These are two extremes. Many fall somewhere in between. Both types of mages play very differently. The Artillery mage relies on spell power to take out creatures. Triple immunes are slow work with the Golem for a Artillery mage. However that 20th fireball is a real rush. Artillery mages work very well in groups, as they can rely upon others for the melee. The armored mages advance the fastest in solo play. They can power clear rooms by a port and blast strategy. Drakes and other creatures can be right on top of them and they can blast away without being locked up in stun. They can also melee triple immunes with a haste weapon with a reasonable chance of success. With armor classes in excess of 250, you can swing on a hell difficulty triple immune obsidian lord without using stone curse - they can't hit you. Hell Caves is the best experience stomping ground above level 35, and you will need to think on the order to clearing it 20 or more times to level. And after level 42 start clearing Caves through to Laz. The Achilles heel of an armored mage is his resistance tends to be low unless he gets a few lucky finds. Strength is always a struggle.
These are extremes. Most people will fall somewhere in between. Think about the style of play you will enjoy the most, and gear yourself accordingly.
The Belt
My preferred belt is 6 full manas with a full rejuv in the 7-8 slots. The 7-8 slots are there just to keep you alive long enough to restore your mana shield. The standard potion load for me is 23 potions for a nightmare hell run (that is 8 in belt, 9 along bottom row, + first 2 columns full). At low levels where you are cash poor, rely on ordinary mana potions. Sell off most everything you can and buy potions.
Spell Hotkeys
These are very important. I usually have Fireball, Lightning/Chain Lightning, Teleport, and Stone Curse hot keyed. Fireball should be your primary attack. If the monsters are immune to fire, then try Lightning on them. Lightning does about the same damage as Chain Lightning. The reason I use Lightning is because it does not hit my fellow companions(if solo, I use Chain Lightning and there are ways to prevent or manage the gaps). Teleport is always useful for hopping over walls or getting out of tough situations. Finally, Stone Curse is great hotkeyed because if you come across I pack of Vipers or Knights, it is best to Stone Curse them all, and then launch Fireballs. They will not be able to reach you in time before they are turned into stone, and the Fireball finishes them off very quickly. The Fireball should not miss, because you are aiming at a stationary object.
Other Spells
There are other spells that you should use but you do not need to hotkey because you will not use them as frequently as the above mentioned spells. These spells are Town Portal, Mana Shield, and Golem. Town Portal and Mana Shield, are one time use spells, you won't need to cast them consecutively. Golem might be casted more than once, but still not as much as the four hotkeyed spells. Golems are great companions if you do not have an actual warrior by your side, especially in Hell/Hell against the triple immunes. I think I also better mention Firewall, Elemental, Bone Spirit and Guardian, they can be helpful at the appropriate times. Oh, and how could I forget! Telekinesis!
Strategies
The main thing you have to do is to avoid getting swarmed. Watch out for Vipers and Lava Maws especially. Sorcerers generally cannot afford to get stunlocked, but if you do get stunlocked, try to walk away, if you cannot cast teleport. Their main weakness is lack of AC, so avoid physical contact. If you see a large pack of monsters that you know you cannot handle, simply just start Stone Cursing all of them, and then come in with your Fireball or Lightning.
Positioning and Kill Zones
Chain Lightning: the spell that most mages love/hate. After your CL reaches level 12 and above, it will usually gap. The screens below should help you learn to manage the gaps and produce more kills. Remember to use Fireball first to kill off the lightning immunes, so you don't waste a stream of lightning on them. And notice the high concentration of streams, they overlap, doing double, triple, or more damage to anything in its path. Click to enlarge pics.
Kill Zones: This is my favorite tactic. After triggering a room (or a few monsters, on Hell difficulty) I retreat around the corner. The ones that will chase me, come around the corner, and I blast away at them with the appropriate spell. Note: at higher difficulties, you may need to do some Stone Curse also. There are also a few different ways to trigger the monsters to follow you. Casting Guardian will trigger some of the non-lightning immunes and tossing a few lightning bolts into the room will trigger the non-fire immunes. Oh yeah, poking your head in there will work too. Click to enlarge pics.