Help with Sorc build

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Hi guys. Please help with build of the sorcerer, which will be also good at melee and can complete solo HOF.
I've read Chevalier guide to Paladin/Wizard . But I want to try this build - Drow pal(3)/fighter(4)/sorcerer(23). Is it good idea?

 

Not especially. The Drow's favored class is either a cleric or a wizard. As such, you'll be paying an effective XP penalty that rivals or exceeds the unpatched Deep Gnome (I'm too lazy to do the math).

An Asimar wouldn't help much since your primary class is sorcerer, not a paladin.

If you drop the fighter levels, it could work well.
The class might work if you are going to make it to level 7 as a paladin/fighter, then start level squatting before taking a dozen sorcerer levels at once, but then you'd be subject to the XP penalty I mentioned.
Alternately, squat until you can take 5 levels at once, you won't take any XP penalty until you gain your 6th sorcerer level that way.
Still another way would be very similar to the above, but be triple classed from the start, taking a level in each class, then going back to the first until you get to paladin(3)/fighter(4)/sorcerer(4), then only leveling in sorcerer from then on, but again you'll incur the XP penalty after sorcerer level 5, character level 12, or right around the time you're approaching the Wandering Village and quickly start to trail the rest of the party as bad or worse (again, I haven't checked the math) as a deep gnome that started with 0XP.


In other words, it can be half-way decent until character level 12, then fall behind. Especially if you take the warrior levels first, then squat until you have enough to gain two sorcerer levels instead of just one.

 

You're mixing up things here. ECL penalty is not comparable to an XP penalty due to multiclassing, even less so in long term. XP penalty is always the worse of the two options, while ECL is effectively nullified the longer you play.

True, but only for some races. Paladin(3)/Fighter(4)/Sorcerer(5) means 20% exp penalty unless your favored class is Paladin or Sorcerer.

Actually, calculating your expected level in terms of the rest of the party is one of the easiest calculations. Since exp requirements per level increase quadratically while exp penalty is a flat multiplier, you get the following table of level penalty multipliers:

20 % penalty = 0.89
40 % penalty = 0.77
60 % penalty = 0.63
80 % penalty = 0.45

So if the rest of the party just reached level 20, someone with a 40 % exp penalty would still struggle at level 20 x 0.77 = 15.4.

 

If you want to take three classes you should be human. Since you only want F(3)/P(4) the XP penalty will be a killer for higher leveling and you'll really struggle in HoF mode. If you can settle for just two classes, one should be a favored class -- if you're choosing between paladin or fighter and wanting to be a sorcerer you really don't have many choices. An Aasimar is actually a pretty good choice for a paladin/sorcerer.

Your only other real choices are to keep the levels close (not optimal) or just take the XP loss in the shorts (possible since you'll be soloing and have excess).

 

Big thanks for explanation guys.
But why shoud i care of xp penalty if i use permanent mules of two chracters of first levels. Or this kind of playing is not fair? I am now deep gnome 25 level pal(1)/monk(x) in normal and it is only 5th chapter.
But i think that build without magic in HOF will suck, so i want to try some others powergaminh builds like:
1. deep gnome pal(3)/fighter(4)/sorc(23)
2. deep gnome pal(1)/monk(1)/fighter(4)/cleric(24)
3. drow male rogue(3)/barbarian(3)/fighter(4)/wizard(20)

 

IIRC, IWD2 will not let you take more than three classes so options 2 and 3 are impossible.

Also, I could have sworn that the XP penalty wouldn't kick in with 3/4/5 in non favored classes until it became 3/4/6, but it's been a while. I'm positive however that it will not kick in at levels 3/4/4, so just change that 5 to a 4 for my previous advice.

Also, I was not mixing terms, I was comparing the penalty to the ECL penalty of the deep gnome, which does make a huge impact on the amount of XP needed to get to the next level for the first dozen levels.
I'm not sure how the actual amount of XP you need to get to a comparable level stacks up, and I was too lazy to set up a graph to figure it out as I didn't feel like entering in all that data. Maybe I can copy the 2da file into Excel or Calc however.

 

No you can take as many classes as you want. There's no limit other than alignment and a few other issues (such as classing out of paladin or monk). I've been there and done that - trying to create builds with as many classes as possible. It can be fun, but really doesn't seem to be as big a gain as it might seem at first.

I'd also like to point out that if mixing classes is something you like, MindChild's IWD Custom mod allows you to remove the race-dependent favored classes, so that they all function like a human.

To be honest, I've never found weapon specialization or maximized attacks to be worth the 4 fighter levels. (Maybe it is from a purely mathematical "damage over time" standpoint.)

For build 1, you won't be able to wear any decent armor and still cast. There are some ways around that, but it does require some commitment either in feats or spells that could be going to other things.

Build 2 could be okay, but again, the fighter levels really don't gain anything. You're also very MAD (multi-attribute dependent): you'll need decent DX, CN, WI, and CH for a viable character.

And with build 3, the three barbarian levels really won't gain you much (1 rage and fighter BAB, and keeping the levels close because of the XP penalty). Converting those 7 fighter and barbarian levels to rogue would gain you 4d6 sneak attack, which is much more useful in my opinion.

 

I would agree that in reality neither weapon specialization or maximize attacks are really all that powerful. The only reason they are so desirable is that there are so few decent feats in this game really in the long run. Due to that they get an artificial boost along with the problem that since it is limited to the fighter class and they make a big deal about it you feel like it is actually power when really it isn't.

To give you an idea while the accuracy and damage boosts are important for 2e specialization it is actually the bonus attacks that mean so much more in the long run and 3e specialization only gives you the damage bonus.

 

Sounds much worse than it is. In fact, none* of the actual, physical armors stack up favorably to a simple 1st level mage spell called Shield, and even the lowly Mage Armor widely surpasses anything available until Chapter Two at least.

* = note that Chain of Drakkas is technically a robe with an AC bonus.

 

Except that if you use shield you have to rest after every little skirmish while actual item-based AC means you can clear the entire map without resting.

While 90% of the dungeons let you rest whenever, there will be a few challenges where you cannot rest.

At least mage armor has a decent duration. Shield only lasts for a single engagement, by the time you hit the next group of mooks it's worn off and you have to expend another spell.

Sorry, playstyle.
Certain games with time limits such as Magic Candle and Might and Magic II trained me to rest as little as possible, as well as games where resting cost me resources (like money).
In the days of M&M2 or Magic Candle, I couldn't afford to get a new game very often and there was no world wide web to obtain freeware from.
Of course, 14.4K baaud modems didn't exist yet either, let alone 56K.

 

Aren't there magic items that give the abilities to cast Mage Armor and Shield? Can you sell and buy-back to recharge?

 

By the time the AC advantage becomes relevant (read: HOF mode), Shield spell easily lasts for entire maps with just one casting. Only spells that lasts for 1 round/level needs a recast here and there. Mage armor is all you need (and more) until then. Buffs in general last ages in IWD2 compared to just about any other D&D based RPG out there so being "permanent" is much less of an advantage here. Hassle-free, maybe, but better, no.

 

Maybe I just take too long to clear the maps at the Shangarn, Horde fortress, and Ice Temple.
About the only time buffs last the entire screen is the final battle at the end of the Shangarn & the Horde Fortress roof.
I rest after the fortress roof, but my buffs run out before I clear the inside of the building unless I charge the leader who summons all the monsters to attack at once (can be fun or frustrating depending on how much power-gaming I've done. If I'm power-gaming, it's real fun but pre-buffing is absolutely necessary).

BTW, what percentage of the game would you say I've completed by the time I clear the Ice Temple?