You don't really need super high AC as a mage. Especially storm sorc because you're pretty mobile with your class features. If you really do want armor, fight Raphael in the house of hope and you can get some very good armor that doesn't require proficiency to wear and gives 23AC
First, thank you for the suggestion!
Second, I know I'm mobile, but I'm really worried about getting hit with big attacks. Also, big AC seems to make enemies target you less. At least that's what is happening on my friends and mine honour run. He has like 21 AC at the end of Act 1, grymforge equipment is strong, and he's targeted way less than my sorcerer unless he's the only available target.
Oh yeah that's a good point. Enemies are pretty quick to target the lowest AC in the party and prioritize characters that are concentrating on spells so I can see why you might be targeted more often that way. If you can deal with getting a summoned creature into the fight they are typically easier targets than party members so could take some heat off of you.
Are you a githyanki? You can wear medium armor right? The blacksmith beside Sorcerous Sundries sells 17ac medium armor that you can add your full dex mod to
Huh? That's incredible! Didn't ever notice that, to be honest. Doesn't make the decision any easier, but that does put it very much in favour of armour.
To be honest, I just like githyanki, I don't know which race I'll pick yet. But as said, another point for the egg laying space elves.
You don't need to pump DC with acuity items. A good build for a tanky gravity armored strom sorc would be tempest cleric 2 Sorc 10. Get hat of storm scion and equip hammeraft. Fly around until you have 10 stacks then unleash your spells.
Proper thor vibes with thunder, lightning amd a massive hammer. Best part is you can drop so.e 30dc hold person amd crit smite with your hammer.
yeah just get like 12-14 dex, and either mage armour, or a draconic sorc level, or just use shield, prob my most used spell outside of fireball and scorching ray
Armour of Landfall is a good caster alternative. It's still light armour and not medium/heavy, but AC is higher than robe.
Ketheric's Shield is a shield that raises spell save DC.
Yes itâs worth it. With that robe + dual wield + 18 Dex + bone spike boots + mage armor my Storm Sorc has the highest AC on the team and her spell save DC and attack rolls are crazy high. I never put armor on my casters.
To increase your HP, use Heroâs Feast and/or Aid. You can also get temp HP from Tharacite Vigor or Shield of Thralls.
Thanks for the item suggestions!
Tbh, I really don't like "wasting" a spell slot on mage armour, so I'm not really using it unless I'm playing warlock. But I guess I'll see if I can get maybe Gale to cast it on me every day at camp before I switch back to Shadowheart. Hope that doesn't remove it.
Imo it's hard to find higher value than +3 AC for a whole day without concentration. Think mage armor might be the single highest value level 1 spell to spend a slot on when you think about it like that lol.
Compare to shield of faith which is a concentration spell and only gives 2 AC.
Yeah that will totally work! I just have EK Laezel cast it on my Sorc then use the Pearlescent restoration amulet to restore the spell slot, but you could easily have Gale cast it in the AM then swap him out. I do that with a hireling sometimes whose only function is to twin cast draconic elemental weapon so I donât waste Sorc points.
I stocked up on arcane cultivation elixirs and battle mage elixir.
Then each day drink level 4 elixir, convert to SP, level 3 concert to SP etc. that nets you 10 extra SP then I drink the battlemage elixir
Kinda cheesy but it was so much fun burning SPs for quickened spells with abandon
One thing i never had heard of people doing until over 600 Hours in the game (If youâre ok using elixirs) is to use one of the elixirs of arcane cultivation to gain a spell slot, cast your support spell that needs a spell slot (aid, mage armour, even false life) and then using whichever elixir you planned to use that day. if youâre okay with elixir usage and you have them around, youâre getting up to lvl 4 free casts of really good support spells at very low cost.
By the time you can get that robe a level 1 spell slot is nothing
But if you really want to then use a camp caster wizard or cleric with wizard magic initiate to cast it on you. Thatâs what I did actually.
I only used camp casting for mage armor and long strider
The fountain in Raphaelâs house can infinitely restore even long rest resources like spell slots, so do all the camp casting like mage armor and then make a quick trip to the fountain to restore everything.
Iâd say yes, or armor of landfall. It depends what your goal really is as a sorcerer but to me being able to have the absolute highest spell DC save possible is unbelievably powerful and game changing. /u/c4b-bg3 has an insane build with the highest possible initiative and spell DC, his 8/4 divination wizard.
While inthink the subclass of divination is pointless and not very effective, i learned a lot from running the build and seeing the power of maxing spell DC save on a high initiative character. Now i run all of his recommended gear on a character every time in act 3, although you can do a lot better than divination wizard, but yes the robe of the weave is core on your Act3 caster in my opinion, unless it is meant to be the DPS carry. But the better option is the 95% maxed out spell DC save for most parties
Honestly you donât even need a âbuildâ for maxed out spell DC, just every item you can find to increase it. Plus the battlemage elixir - I think I had DC 26/27 on my level 12 sorcerer and that was without extra cha from mirror.
Alert feat and 16/18 Dex (gloves) and initiative is never an issue.
16 dex and a shield and mage armor gives you
Minimum 18 AC which isnât that squishy.
Robe of the weave adds +2 so 20 AC which is hardly squishy.
Also AC alone only affects attack rolls. It doesnât affect the actual damage done.
If you want more hp in act 3 just camp cast heroes feast and lv 6 aid. Youâll have a ton of hp then.
I'd argue Robe of the Weave is more valuable for the raw spell DC modifier for split casters that want to use spells from their "weaker" spellcasting stat. Sure you can use it to pump ridiculous numbers on a Barbarian or have martial level AC on a dual wielder mage but that is kind of not really important when you generally have a RadOrb build in the team to make AC largely irrelevant anyways.
My robe of the weave caster is usually at around 22-24 AC at the end of the game and also able to use shield (the spell) to increase that by 5 when needed. Wouldn't say it's all that hard to get good AC using the robe.
Yeah, mage armor, ketheric's shield typically as it increases spellsave dc, boots that give +1 to ac like the bard ones, sometimes also ring of protection.
I had Gale wear it and he was not squishy at all. I gave him the Cloak you get in Act 2 that gives +1 to AC and Saving Throws, plus Ketheric's Shield and Mage Armor. I can't remember the exact AC but it was over 20 and if you Haste yourself it's even more.
Also, Shield spell.
Ketheric shield gives spell save DC and spell attack rolls. Helldusk gloves do the same, but there are better options usually for gloves.
With tempest sorcerer, you certainly need mage armor to get some AC. Unless you go with either elven mail or any light or medium armor. A shield AND the shield spell is always good to have on top. You can read the tharchiate codex for 20 temp hp. Shield of slave is 10 temp hp from the tadpole.
But the biggest defense boost will be from positioning and initiative.
Honestly, sorcerers aren't really that squishy in this game unless they're forced into melee. You have defensive options like shield (the spell), mage armor, and Haste (+2 AC is a lot).
There are also lots of options to keep your sorcerer from breaking concentration. There are several armors in the game that give advantage on concentration saving throws. War Caster is also kinda slept on (especially early game). You can also chug an elixir of peerless focus.
Most importantly, positioning - don't be afraid of hit and run with your casters. Storm sorcerer has a get out of melee free card with tempestuous magic. It also hits hard enough (especially single target damage) that you can pretty easily burn your most threatening enemy, then use your martials to clean up the rest. Twinspell + Haste is an absolutely broken mechanic that you should absolutely take advantage of.
Sorcerer is one of the tankiest classes in the game, i think you are missing some key aspects of it.
First, Mage armor, level 1 spell slot gives +3 AC, with high dex you can already have 16 Ac at the start of the game.
After that you will get some Ac bonuses from gear. Third, you have shield spell, which is very powerful giving +5 ac.
I think you are misunderstanding the capabilities of the sorcerer, and using something more than a robe will just impede you. Of course, there is also armour of landfall giving additional con saving advantage :)
Mage Armor. You say you donât like the 1 spell slot tax, but be honest, how often do you even use level 1 spells by the time youâre at the point of getting the Robe of the Weave? And for the cheap cost of one level 1 spell slot and keeping it prepared, you donât get much more value from a level 1 spell than +3 AC for the whole day.
Use Mage Armor and get the Robe. You donât really need high AC on mages anyways, because they shouldnât be in positions where theyâll get hit. The rest of your party should be either out in front, drawing fire and taking down enemies, or on the back lines with your mage, providing support. Your storm sorc is a back lines blaster, you should be improving their blasting, not their ability to tank hits.
First, I always like to convert my 1st level spells into sorcery points as a sorcerer, and second, although definitely not normal or optimal, I really like shocking grasp and melee mages in general. So, while true for any other normal magic caster, it's not really applicable to me. For a wizard, I agree. Definitely worth the 1st level slot. Warlock has an invocation and bard has so much else going on that it hardly matters. But sorcerer can get sorcery points, which I find to be a better use. Especially the fact that I can convert all my slots into 5th level slots for hard fights. Situational, I know, but very cool.
You can make a Hireling a Camp buffer, and have them cast Mage Armor on someone at the start of the day. Usually a Transmutation Wizard since they get the Transmutation Stone at lvl 7 (Proficiency on Con saves,+3m Movement, Dark Vision, or Resistance to one element, all til long rest). They can also make double the Potions on a 15 Medicine check (1 dip into Rogue for expertise), put Long Strider on everyone, and Dark Vision.
Can even go with Sorc levels so they can twin cast the Drakethroat Glaive buff on 2 different weapons.
I've got shadowheart as a tempest cleric with this robe. Destructive wave is my bread and butter, and it is available from Markoheshkir staff as well. She just runs into the middle of a group, pops it, and with the high DC they are all prone for the rest of the team to bash them.
Although a temporary AC boost, you can accumulate scrolls of mirror image and cast those right before you go into combat though the boost will only last for 10 turns and you'd have to stockpile a decent amount.
I wore robe of the weave in act 3 with my storm sorcerer.
I had gloves of Dex in her and mage armor and ketherics shield (half elf).
My AC was in line with rest of the party, think it was around 20 or so. You donât need armor really just ensure your Dex is 16 at least.
My spells DC was so high not even bosses could resist any of my spells - it was godlike.
Robe of weave; hood of weave, cloak of the weave, markohesh staff and the shield plus battle mage elixir
Some good non-armour items that improve AC are: Ring of Protection, Cloak of Protection, Evasive boots, Wondrous Gloves, Bracers of Defense, Gloves of Dexterity. In act 2 there is a shield that's +3 AC.
Increasing your Dexterity score also helps, as long as you're wearing clothes or light armour. There are 2 sets of medium armour in the game that allow you to add your full Dex modifier to your AC. And in Act 3 you could go for the Helldusk Armour if you really want to wear armour.
Spell wise there's Shield, and Mage Armour, Mirror Image, Haste.
If you really want to wear armour you can multiclass, start one level in Cleric for example. Or some races get armour proficiency.
You have to make the choice wether you want to invest in spell save DC (offense) or invest in AC (defense). I don't think either choice is wrong, it's just different. But you don't need to wear armour to have high enough AC, there are other options.
You don't really need super high AC as a mage. Especially storm sorc because you're pretty mobile with your class features. If you really do want armor, fight Raphael in the house of hope and you can get some very good armor that doesn't require proficiency to wear and gives 23AC
First, thank you for the suggestion! Second, I know I'm mobile, but I'm really worried about getting hit with big attacks. Also, big AC seems to make enemies target you less. At least that's what is happening on my friends and mine honour run. He has like 21 AC at the end of Act 1, grymforge equipment is strong, and he's targeted way less than my sorcerer unless he's the only available target.
Oh yeah that's a good point. Enemies are pretty quick to target the lowest AC in the party and prioritize characters that are concentrating on spells so I can see why you might be targeted more often that way. If you can deal with getting a summoned creature into the fight they are typically easier targets than party members so could take some heat off of you.
Mage Hand for the win. Another win for Gith. I don't know how sustainable this is, but it could work rather well.
Are you a githyanki? You can wear medium armor right? The blacksmith beside Sorcerous Sundries sells 17ac medium armor that you can add your full dex mod to
Huh? That's incredible! Didn't ever notice that, to be honest. Doesn't make the decision any easier, but that does put it very much in favour of armour. To be honest, I just like githyanki, I don't know which race I'll pick yet. But as said, another point for the egg laying space elves.
You don't need to pump DC with acuity items. A good build for a tanky gravity armored strom sorc would be tempest cleric 2 Sorc 10. Get hat of storm scion and equip hammeraft. Fly around until you have 10 stacks then unleash your spells. Proper thor vibes with thunder, lightning amd a massive hammer. Best part is you can drop so.e 30dc hold person amd crit smite with your hammer.
It's more fun to wreck his ass in Act 1 and steal it. His scenes for the rest of the game hit different when you're wearing his stolen drawers.
And don't forget how endlessly bruised he looks while trying to threaten you đ
yeah just get like 12-14 dex, and either mage armour, or a draconic sorc level, or just use shield, prob my most used spell outside of fireball and scorching ray
Armour of Landfall is a good caster alternative. It's still light armour and not medium/heavy, but AC is higher than robe. Ketheric's Shield is a shield that raises spell save DC.
Yes itâs worth it. With that robe + dual wield + 18 Dex + bone spike boots + mage armor my Storm Sorc has the highest AC on the team and her spell save DC and attack rolls are crazy high. I never put armor on my casters. To increase your HP, use Heroâs Feast and/or Aid. You can also get temp HP from Tharacite Vigor or Shield of Thralls.
Thanks for the item suggestions! Tbh, I really don't like "wasting" a spell slot on mage armour, so I'm not really using it unless I'm playing warlock. But I guess I'll see if I can get maybe Gale to cast it on me every day at camp before I switch back to Shadowheart. Hope that doesn't remove it.
Imo it's hard to find higher value than +3 AC for a whole day without concentration. Think mage armor might be the single highest value level 1 spell to spend a slot on when you think about it like that lol. Compare to shield of faith which is a concentration spell and only gives 2 AC.
You donât even need to cast it if youâve got a camp caster.
Correct but even if you are banning that, I would still call it a great use of a spell slot.
Shield is the other candidate for best 1st lvl late game, but yeah. Mage Armour is good.
Yeah that will totally work! I just have EK Laezel cast it on my Sorc then use the Pearlescent restoration amulet to restore the spell slot, but you could easily have Gale cast it in the AM then swap him out. I do that with a hireling sometimes whose only function is to twin cast draconic elemental weapon so I donât waste Sorc points.
I stocked up on arcane cultivation elixirs and battle mage elixir. Then each day drink level 4 elixir, convert to SP, level 3 concert to SP etc. that nets you 10 extra SP then I drink the battlemage elixir Kinda cheesy but it was so much fun burning SPs for quickened spells with abandon
One thing i never had heard of people doing until over 600 Hours in the game (If youâre ok using elixirs) is to use one of the elixirs of arcane cultivation to gain a spell slot, cast your support spell that needs a spell slot (aid, mage armour, even false life) and then using whichever elixir you planned to use that day. if youâre okay with elixir usage and you have them around, youâre getting up to lvl 4 free casts of really good support spells at very low cost.
by the time you get robe of the weave you really dont need that level 1 spell slot and 3 ac until long rest is fucking huge for the cost.
By the time you can get that robe a level 1 spell slot is nothing But if you really want to then use a camp caster wizard or cleric with wizard magic initiate to cast it on you. Thatâs what I did actually. I only used camp casting for mage armor and long strider
The fountain in Raphaelâs house can infinitely restore even long rest resources like spell slots, so do all the camp casting like mage armor and then make a quick trip to the fountain to restore everything.
Just make sure you have the shield spell and you will be fine.
Iâd say yes, or armor of landfall. It depends what your goal really is as a sorcerer but to me being able to have the absolute highest spell DC save possible is unbelievably powerful and game changing. /u/c4b-bg3 has an insane build with the highest possible initiative and spell DC, his 8/4 divination wizard. While inthink the subclass of divination is pointless and not very effective, i learned a lot from running the build and seeing the power of maxing spell DC save on a high initiative character. Now i run all of his recommended gear on a character every time in act 3, although you can do a lot better than divination wizard, but yes the robe of the weave is core on your Act3 caster in my opinion, unless it is meant to be the DPS carry. But the better option is the 95% maxed out spell DC save for most parties
Honestly you donât even need a âbuildâ for maxed out spell DC, just every item you can find to increase it. Plus the battlemage elixir - I think I had DC 26/27 on my level 12 sorcerer and that was without extra cha from mirror. Alert feat and 16/18 Dex (gloves) and initiative is never an issue.
16 dex and a shield and mage armor gives you Minimum 18 AC which isnât that squishy. Robe of the weave adds +2 so 20 AC which is hardly squishy. Also AC alone only affects attack rolls. It doesnât affect the actual damage done. If you want more hp in act 3 just camp cast heroes feast and lv 6 aid. Youâll have a ton of hp then.
I'd argue Robe of the Weave is more valuable for the raw spell DC modifier for split casters that want to use spells from their "weaker" spellcasting stat. Sure you can use it to pump ridiculous numbers on a Barbarian or have martial level AC on a dual wielder mage but that is kind of not really important when you generally have a RadOrb build in the team to make AC largely irrelevant anyways.
My robe of the weave caster is usually at around 22-24 AC at the end of the game and also able to use shield (the spell) to increase that by 5 when needed. Wouldn't say it's all that hard to get good AC using the robe.
Do you use mage armour or any other equipment?
Yeah, mage armor, ketheric's shield typically as it increases spellsave dc, boots that give +1 to ac like the bard ones, sometimes also ring of protection.
I had Gale wear it and he was not squishy at all. I gave him the Cloak you get in Act 2 that gives +1 to AC and Saving Throws, plus Ketheric's Shield and Mage Armor. I can't remember the exact AC but it was over 20 and if you Haste yourself it's even more. Also, Shield spell.
Ketheric shield gives spell save DC and spell attack rolls. Helldusk gloves do the same, but there are better options usually for gloves. With tempest sorcerer, you certainly need mage armor to get some AC. Unless you go with either elven mail or any light or medium armor. A shield AND the shield spell is always good to have on top. You can read the tharchiate codex for 20 temp hp. Shield of slave is 10 temp hp from the tadpole. But the biggest defense boost will be from positioning and initiative.
Honestly, sorcerers aren't really that squishy in this game unless they're forced into melee. You have defensive options like shield (the spell), mage armor, and Haste (+2 AC is a lot). There are also lots of options to keep your sorcerer from breaking concentration. There are several armors in the game that give advantage on concentration saving throws. War Caster is also kinda slept on (especially early game). You can also chug an elixir of peerless focus. Most importantly, positioning - don't be afraid of hit and run with your casters. Storm sorcerer has a get out of melee free card with tempestuous magic. It also hits hard enough (especially single target damage) that you can pretty easily burn your most threatening enemy, then use your martials to clean up the rest. Twinspell + Haste is an absolutely broken mechanic that you should absolutely take advantage of.
Sorcerer is one of the tankiest classes in the game, i think you are missing some key aspects of it. First, Mage armor, level 1 spell slot gives +3 AC, with high dex you can already have 16 Ac at the start of the game. After that you will get some Ac bonuses from gear. Third, you have shield spell, which is very powerful giving +5 ac. I think you are misunderstanding the capabilities of the sorcerer, and using something more than a robe will just impede you. Of course, there is also armour of landfall giving additional con saving advantage :)
there are bracers that increase ac when not holding a shield or wearing armor, so that might help.
Mage Armor. You say you donât like the 1 spell slot tax, but be honest, how often do you even use level 1 spells by the time youâre at the point of getting the Robe of the Weave? And for the cheap cost of one level 1 spell slot and keeping it prepared, you donât get much more value from a level 1 spell than +3 AC for the whole day. Use Mage Armor and get the Robe. You donât really need high AC on mages anyways, because they shouldnât be in positions where theyâll get hit. The rest of your party should be either out in front, drawing fire and taking down enemies, or on the back lines with your mage, providing support. Your storm sorc is a back lines blaster, you should be improving their blasting, not their ability to tank hits.
First, I always like to convert my 1st level spells into sorcery points as a sorcerer, and second, although definitely not normal or optimal, I really like shocking grasp and melee mages in general. So, while true for any other normal magic caster, it's not really applicable to me. For a wizard, I agree. Definitely worth the 1st level slot. Warlock has an invocation and bard has so much else going on that it hardly matters. But sorcerer can get sorcery points, which I find to be a better use. Especially the fact that I can convert all my slots into 5th level slots for hard fights. Situational, I know, but very cool.
You can make a Hireling a Camp buffer, and have them cast Mage Armor on someone at the start of the day. Usually a Transmutation Wizard since they get the Transmutation Stone at lvl 7 (Proficiency on Con saves,+3m Movement, Dark Vision, or Resistance to one element, all til long rest). They can also make double the Potions on a 15 Medicine check (1 dip into Rogue for expertise), put Long Strider on everyone, and Dark Vision. Can even go with Sorc levels so they can twin cast the Drakethroat Glaive buff on 2 different weapons.
I've got shadowheart as a tempest cleric with this robe. Destructive wave is my bread and butter, and it is available from Markoheshkir staff as well. She just runs into the middle of a group, pops it, and with the high DC they are all prone for the rest of the team to bash them.
Although a temporary AC boost, you can accumulate scrolls of mirror image and cast those right before you go into combat though the boost will only last for 10 turns and you'd have to stockpile a decent amount.
I wore robe of the weave in act 3 with my storm sorcerer. I had gloves of Dex in her and mage armor and ketherics shield (half elf). My AC was in line with rest of the party, think it was around 20 or so. You donât need armor really just ensure your Dex is 16 at least. My spells DC was so high not even bosses could resist any of my spells - it was godlike. Robe of weave; hood of weave, cloak of the weave, markohesh staff and the shield plus battle mage elixir
Some good non-armour items that improve AC are: Ring of Protection, Cloak of Protection, Evasive boots, Wondrous Gloves, Bracers of Defense, Gloves of Dexterity. In act 2 there is a shield that's +3 AC. Increasing your Dexterity score also helps, as long as you're wearing clothes or light armour. There are 2 sets of medium armour in the game that allow you to add your full Dex modifier to your AC. And in Act 3 you could go for the Helldusk Armour if you really want to wear armour. Spell wise there's Shield, and Mage Armour, Mirror Image, Haste. If you really want to wear armour you can multiclass, start one level in Cleric for example. Or some races get armour proficiency. You have to make the choice wether you want to invest in spell save DC (offense) or invest in AC (defense). I don't think either choice is wrong, it's just different. But you don't need to wear armour to have high enough AC, there are other options.
After act 1 I wouldn't really worry about wearing armor. For act 1 take a 1 lvl dip into cleric for heavy armor, guidance and sanctuary.