Upon the Pyre: Sadists for Sorcery pt.1

Welcome back to the killing fields. Look at the fresh bodies, still smoking! Oh, how I love Sorcerers! No, the bodies were not wizards – mostly. They were harvested by the Dark Elves, servants of Khaine and the Witch King. Their prowess on the battlefield is incredible but there have been… accidents. Sometimes, you’ll find a Sorcerer on these fields brought here through his own hatred. It consumes you, you know.

Another week has passed and that means it’s time for another edition of Upon the Pyre! Today, we’re going to look at one of the most fun, and most deadly, classes in the game. As many of you may know, my main character is a Sorcerer. Yes, he’s a guy and, yes, you could barely tell through the first few ranks.

When I loaded up the character creation screen for the first time, I’ll admit that I was still undecided. I’d been following the game for some time and there were things that appealed to me about every class. I’d been reading the Malus Darkblade novels though, so I was leaning towards the Dark Elf race.

The one thing I knew for sure was that I didn’t want to make the same mistake I made in WoW. There, I rolled an “easy” class first, to learn the ropes. I played a warrior, when my inner magician cried out for a mage. So, looking through the Dark Elf classes, I decided to satiate that inner voice and create a Sorcerer.

It’s been a lot of fun and I’d encourage anyone to give the class a try. So, in this article, we’ll be looking at what the Sorcerer is, what it is not, and why, oh why, is it so much fun.

What is a Sorcerer?

[Ranged DPS/Support DPS/Light Armor/Wields Staves]

To draw a common comparison, Sorcerers are a mix between your WoW Mage and Warlock classes. For those unfamiliar with that game, I’ll elaborate. The primary damage output of a Sorcerer is high-end burst damage spells. This is supplemented by a wide array of damage over time (DoT) spells.

So, what is a Sorcerer? They are first finishers, and second, support damage. A sorcerer is capable of putting out decent DPS; however, while they’re build up Dark Magic (or refrain from it if they lack support) their damage is less than it’s potential. This will be covered in more depth later.

During this time, their spells allow them to “finish off” opponents that their team mates are helping on or have already left at low health. They cast direct damage spells to widdle them down and DoTs to finish the job as they run.

When they’re full on Dark Magic, they’re a force to be reckoned with. Their damage output is much higher and they are fully capable of destroying nearly any class they focus fire on.

Sorcerers also get several party wide support spells that allow a small amount of extra damage to be dealt by everyone affected.

Apart from spells, Sorcerers are very squishy. They use light armor and staves, and generally like pointy headwear.

What a Sorcerer is not

[Solo (usually)/Healer/Support]

A Sorcerer is not a solo class in RvR. At least not if you want to achieve your maximum potential. The class requires heals, and lots of them, if you’re going to be the force you’d like to be. In PvE, there is certainly solo viability but in RvR, if you go it alone, you’re toast.

A Sorcerer is not a support class by the usual definition. They are a dps support; however, they offer little in the way of group buffs for most of the game and they do not have any sustainable healing abilities.

If you’re rolling a Sorcerer, know that you’ll need to be a team player, that you’ll be relying on others a lot, and that you’ll be lower on the healing list. In trade for these things, know that you’ll be killing lots, and lots, of people.

The Mechanic

[Dark Magic]

We’ve mentioned the mechanic before but let’s look at it in more detail. Sorcerer’s use the Dark Magic mechanic. When they cast damaging spells, they build up a set amount of this magical essence (determined by the spell), which increases their chance of achieving a critical strike, up to 100%. However, as Dark Magic builds up, so does the potential for a backlash, up to 50%. A backlash occurs when casting a spell and is generally for a large percentage of the damage the spell will deal. Since Sorcerers have low HP pools, it’s quite easy to kill yourself without ever intending to.

For this reason, the Sorcerer class is highly dependent on healers to be able to do damage at their maximum potential. Failing that, the Sorcerer is forced to use his Dhar Wind ability which, while doing decent damage, expires all Dark Magic. As you would imagine, this results in a substantial decrease in DPS for a short period of time.

The Benefits of Sorcery

[Line of Sight/Range/Instant Casts/Self-Increased Damage]

One thing you’ll learn early on is to use Line of Sight to your advantage. Sorcerer spells generally have short cast times, so you can hide behind pieces of terrain, run out and nuke, then hide again. This will minimize your incoming damage and help you to destroy.

Sorcerer spells also tend to have moderate ranges. This is another key benefit. In certain areas, you have the key ability to find a perch and rain death from above. In the Phoenix Throne scenario, I’d often find myself sitting by the Order gate, picking off the players below. It’s a nice feeling watching some helpless player try to scale an unscalable hill while you throw black balls of death in their eyes.

Additionally, many of a Sorcerer’s DoTs are instant cast. This means you can cast them on the move. This is especially useful when applying slows and snares. The best part is, you can be so far back when you apply the snare that your target will have no idea what hit him.

Finally, and this is a personal preference of mine, you can increase your own damage. Sorcerers are given an AoE spell early on that builds up Dark Magic relatively quickly. When soloing in PvE, or even prepping for a first RvR battle, I usually pump my Dark Magic up to about 80. Doing this is somewhat of a balancing act, however, because the higher it is to start, the quicker it reaches 100 and starts to really hurt you, forcing a Dhar Wind. For short battles though, this is perfect.

That’s going to wrap it up for this week but we’ll be back next week with some more magical mysticism. I’m thinking that we’ll be looking at spells and rotations for the first 10 levels. If there’s something you’re interested in finding out about, feel free to leave a comment and we’ll see about working it in there.

Until next time, WAAAGH!

Upon the Pyre is a weekly column written by your resident casual-hardcore, Raegn. Raegn’s played a Sorcerer since release and drinks Dark Magic like wine. Mmmmm… Dark Magic. And blood. The makings for a great bubbly.