Sorcerer Spell Strategies.

Sorcerer Spell Strategies

by Malicae Tkair

Two of the most important things to understand before playing a Sorcerer in Gemstone III is how their system of magic works and how each of their spells are intended to be used. Many Sorcerer’s have led long and fruitful lives relying almost exclusively on two or three spells from their spell circle. However, ask yourself: Are these people using their powers to their fullest potential? Can these people fully appreciate the art of their magic? The root of this problem is that many Sorcerers do not have a complete grasp of their spell’s capacities. Yes, from reading the spell Tomes one can see that Mana Disruption can do a great deal of damage, or that Stun can incapacitate a foe. However, it is only really through field testing that one can receive a well-founded understanding of their spells. Sadly, however, these trail-and error tests are difficult to set-up and dangerous for many to conduct. Many instead choose to either stick to what I know or ask others opinions, which may or may not be valid.

To aid you on your adventures, I have compiled some basic facts about Sorcerer magic. I have also included descriptions of Sorcerer spells, taken directly from the Spell Tomes of Elanthia, and given some helpful hints and strategies on casting them. Please note that this treaties is intended as a helpful guide, and nothing more. Feel free to experiment with your spells, learn, and experience their wonder.

Preparing and Casting Sorcerer Spells:
To prepare a Sorcerer Spell, just type PREPARE . Depending on one’s level, the spell with take some time to prepare. When a spell is first learned, preparation time for it is about 10 seconds. This time reduces 5 seconds for every three levels you are above the level necessary to memorize the spell. Thus, at four a first level spell will take five sends to prepare and at seven the spell does not take any time to prepare. Note that with Sorcerer spells the time spent preparing the spell does not prevent other actions. Thus, a Sorcerer can prepare a spell and swing a blade or eat an herb in the meantime.

Another important thing to note is that no to-hit roll is needed to connect with a Sorcerer Spell. Sorcerer Spells automatically connect; it is just a question of whether or not a creature can ward off a Sorcerer spell with a Warding roll. As such, Sorcerers can cast most of their spells in any stance --an ability which makes them difficult to hit in combat. However, it is important to note that if they cast a spell in Defensive Stance, the strain of casting a spell will cause them to automatically change to a Guarded Stance.

The success of a Sorcerer’s spelling attempts is determined by the following formula with a total score over 100 is needed for success:

Success = CS - TD + CvA + 1d100
With this formula, CS is the spell caster’s Casting Strength. CS for Sorcerer Spells can be computed using the following formula:

CS = (Level x 3) + [(AURA + WIS)/2] + (# of Sorc Spells) + [(# MnSp Spells)/2] + [(# MnEl Spells)/2}
Note: the Aura and Wisdom scores to be entered into this equation are the bonuses; not the actual scores

TD is a creature’s natural resistance to spells. It is usually 3x times its level, although some creatures can enhance their TD with spells or other effects. A player’s TD is also 3x times his or her level. Playing characters also get a bonus to their TD based on their ability scores. Against Sorcerer Spells this bonus is:

(AURA bonus + WIS bonus)/2

Finally, CvA is based on the type of armor a target creature is wearing. Some armors have a negative effect on warding off Sorcerer Spells, while others have a positive effect. Usually, the heavier the armor, the more it helps in resisting Sorcerer magic.

Spell Hindrance:
Wearing certain types of armor interferes with the gestures necessary to successful cast your spells. The following table shows what percentile change of spell failure certain types of armor impart on a spell caster. Also listed on this chart is CvA, so that you might have an idea what type of armor a target creature is wearing based on their CvA when warding your spells.

CvA	elemental hinder %	spirit hinder %	Sorcerer hinder %	Type of Armor
25	0%	0%	0%	Normal Clothes	Robes, Jerkin
20	0%	0%	0%	Leather	Light Leather
19	0%	0%	0%	Leather, A	Full Leather
18	2%	0%	1%	Leather, A and L	Reinforced Leather
17	4%	0%	2%	Leather, H, A and L	Double Leather
11	5%	4%	5%	Scale	Leather Breastplate
10	7%	5%	6%	Scale, A	Cuirbouilli Leather
9	8%	6%	7%	Scale, A and L	Studded Leather
8	10%	8%	9%	Scale, H, A and L	Brigandine Armor
1	12%	8%	10%	Chain	Chain Mail Armor
0	14%	10%	12%	Chain, A	Double Chain
-1	15%	11%	13%	Chain, A and L	Augmented Chain
-2	20%	15%	17%	Chain, H, A and L	Chain Hauberk
-10	15%	15%	15%	Plate Metal	Breastplate
-11	20%	20%	20%	Plate, A	Aug. Breastplate
-12	22%	22%	22%	Plate, A and L	Half plate armor
-13	25%	25%	25%	Plate, H, A, and L	Full plate armor

(A = Arm Protection, L = Leg Protection, H = Head Protection)

Additionally, Arm Guards, Leg Greaves, and Helmets will each add a 2% chance of spell failure. However, adding coverage to an area already protected by worn armor (example: wearing arm greaves when you also have full leather on) does not increase spell hindrance. Also, your total chance of spell failure is equal to the sum of the additions to reach full protection. For example, one could wear Full Leather, Leg Guards, Arm Greaves, and a Helmet and still only have only a net 4% chance of Spell Failure, even though three items are being worn which each would normally impart a 2% chance of spell hindrance (total of 6%).

Because of the chance of spell failure, most Sorcerers will refuse to wear any type of armor heavier than full leather.

Spells Strategies:
Of course, no Sorcerer is complete without his or her magic. However, it is important to note that a spell is only as powerful as the person casting it. Below I have listed the known spells of the Sorcerer Circle, the Tome description of them, some notes on the actual spell, and some tactics and strategies you can employ when casting them. Enjoy!

701 Blood Burst : BLOODBURST

When cast upon a healthy target (which has failed its spirit warding), this will result in bleeding of at least 1/round, if the target does in fact bleed. Each successive casting will increase the bleeding by at least 1/round.

Note: Due to the nature of some creatures, such as undead and golems, they may be immune to this spell as they do not bleed.

Special Notes:

Bloodburst no longer causes just a bleeder of 1/round, but rather an amount based on how much the target fails its warding roll.
Bloodburst does not effect certain creatures, like the undead and golems.
Multiple Bloodburts increase the bleeding injuries.

Strategy:
Despite it’s weak appearance, this spell has a lot of good uses . Realistically, Bloodburst is a poor choice to use at early levels, particularly in areas that are crowded or where creatures die easily. The reason? It takes a long time for a creature to bleed to death and more than likely someone will dispatch the critter before you do any significant damage with the bleeding. At later levels, some creatures are intelligent enough to bandage wounds making bloodburst ineffective on them too.

However, several effective strategies exist with this spell. The first is to use it to set up long term experience gains. If your mind is full and/or you can no longer hunt for whatever reason, try tossing one or two bloodbursts upon a creature and leaving the area. The best targets are non-intellegent creatures that cannot tend wounds, like Carrion Worms, Cave Worms, or Red Bears. If the creature bleeds to death, or if it looses up to 50% of it’s health and then is killed, you’ll get full experience for its death. The advantage of doing this is that by the time you leave the hunting ground and the creature dies, you will have absorbed some of the experience in your mind, thus allowing you to gain from the Bloodbursted kill.

There are three drawbacks with this strategy:

It takes time and you must be in the lands when the creature decomposes to get experience.
You will not get treasure or fame for the kill.
Some creatures will Turtle (switch to Stance Defensive) due to Hit point loss, making it difficult for others to hit it in the area.

Another strategy is to use a creature’s intelligence against it. Find a creature which is intelligent enough to bandage it’s wounds and cast bloodburst at it. Then, hide and stalk the creature. Within a few minutes it will sit and try to tend its neck injury. If you attack it while it is performing this action, you’ll get a +50 AS until it stands. (The creature get's a -50 to it's DS. But, yes, same difference ~ Zanteal)

The downsides of this strategy:

Requires some skill in hiding and stalking, which is expensive for Sorcerers
Someone can blunder onto your target and kill it before you can attack it from the shadows.

702 Mana Disruption : MANADSRPT

Causes the target to suffer bone and tissue damage as if it had fallen a long distance. If the target fails its spirit warding by (1-5), it takes a Rank 1 impact injury; (6-10) = Rank 3; (11-20) = Rank 5; (21-30) = Rank 7; 31-up) = Rank 9. The target must be at least within arm's reach (engaged). There may be additional internal damage done (health points), which will be relative to the severity of the injury.

Special Notes:
In addition to it’s raw damage potential, Mana Disrupt does critical damage to specific areas. For example, a Mana Disrupt which hits a leg may sever it forcing the creature to fall to the ground, an arm blast may remove the limb and any sword or shield it might hold, while a strike to the head can instantly kill a creature.

Mana Disrupt can also stun a creature and cause massive Bleeding.
The damage a creature receives from Mana Disrupt may be more than the numbers show.

Strategy:
This is one of the most important spells for a sorcerer, particularly because of its low casting cost and its ability to do instant damage. However, it is not very effective to rely upon until Level 8, where there is no longer a preparation time for the spell.

Before a character reaches level 8, the best use of this spell is as an added extra. This spell is a nice one to throw at a creature while swinging a blade at it, particularly because you can perform other activities during it’s preparation. Some other strategies I’ve seen with this spell is to prepare it out of combat, and keep it warmed until you happen upon the next creature. This is a risky strategy, as you can loose the spell and mana for if you do not find a target in time. Additionally, this is how many low-level casters accidentally kill themselves, as they forget they have the spell in their minds and then try to prepare some other spell and cast it.

After one reaches level 8, this spells becomes the staple of Sorcerers. Some use it for straight out kills, other to disable an opponent and finish it off with a weapon. Another neat strategy is to use it like a bloodburst - this insures that you will have inflicted a good amount of damage in addition to the bleeding losses.

703 Forget : Duration: 15 seconds : FORGET

The target will forget whatever spell it is presently preparing or has prepared (prior to casting) and will not be able to cast again for the duration of the spell. If the target does not have a spell warmed (or warming) when the forget spell is cast, then the target will be incapable of casting for the duration of this spell.

This spell is extremely hard to resist.

Special Notes:
This spell is NOT extremely hard to resist. A standard warding roll applies.

Strategy:
As of this date, Forget remains a spell with few precious uses. Since a normal warding roll applies for Forget to take effect, many argue that using a spell that will incapacitate or kill a creature is more effective, especially since Forget only causes the loss of a creature’s spell and a 15 second delay. Others argue that the low cost of the spell makes this worthwhile, particularly in areas where a creature can cast a spell that increases its TD or that a Sorcerer has difficulty resisting, like Boil Earth or Call Wind.

Touching on this latter school of thought, Forget seems to be most worthwhile to cast on creatures that a Sorcerer would have difficulty killing because it either has a massive number of hit points, or is immune to critical injuries. In these cases, Forget is most useful to:

Keep the creature from spelling up. Many creatures have the ability to cast spells on themselves that can increase their Defensive Strength (DS) or their Warding ability. In these cases, a Sorcerer is advised to cast Forget on the creature when it first enters the room, to creature a 15 second delay where the creature will be less resistant to Sorcerer attacks. Then, the sorcerer is advised to throw a spell at he creature which will result in a quick kill, like Dark Catalyst.
Keep a creature from casting spells to which Sorcerer has a poor resistance. For example, many Sorcerers have difficulty defending against Combat Maneuver spells, like Call Wind or Boil Earth. If a creature is capable of casting this spell, any Sorcerers will throw a Forget at it when it begins murmuring an incantation, to delay an otherwise deadly onslaught.

Still, the one area where this spell always seems effective is in PvP situations. Forget can easily discourage other spell casters from casting at you since it still leaves you with a plentiful supply of mana while showing them that you can easily foil their attempts to throw spells at you and do worse if you desire.

704 Phase : PHASE

This will momentarily cause an object to 'fade' from existence, allowing the sorcerer to pass through it briefly. This allows the caster to pass through most forms of doors, reach into closed containers and perhaps remove the contents, and in some cases will allow passage through magical portals.
Note: Due to the extremely short duration of this spell, only the caster will be able to manipulate the phased objects.

Special Notes:
A failed attempt at phasing a box can result in the removal of one’s hand. Some portals and containers remain resistant to phasing attempts.

Strategy:
Phase is one of the few utility spells that a Sorcerer has. It can provide its caster with a way to get the material from boxes that are otherwise inaccessible, and it also can be used as a way of bypassing difficult portals that may require an elaborate procedure to enter.

The most common use of Phase is getting material out of Coffers, Chests, Trunks, Boxes,, and Strongboxes. By casting phase at the resistant container, a Sorcerer can insert his or her hand into the treasure trough and pull an object or coins out. What this object is, and how many coins are removed, is randomly determined, making the clearing of container expensive. Then why do it? Certain containers are trapped, making their opening dangerous or magically impossible. Others are rigged in such a way was to destroy the items locked away within them. Phase allows one to bypass these security systems entirely. The most effective box cleaning strategy with Phase is to use it in conjunction with Piercing Gaze (416), using Phase to grab objects and Piercing Gaze to see if anything is left in the container. The drawbacks: This procedure takes a long time to completely clear a box and costs lots of mana. Because of this, some just limit their phasing attempts on boxes to grabbing unique items.

Another use Sorcerers have for the phase spell is to ferret-out glyph traps that they might have missed when searching a box for traps. Glyph traps make a box impervious to opening my magical means. Some Sorcerers will occasionally cast the Phase spell at a trunk or chest that seems to be resisting their attempts at opening it with Word of Opening to see if the box resists that spell too. If the Phase spell is resisted, odds are the coffer is rigged with a glyph trap.

Phase can also be used to bypass certain portals in Elanthia. However, it should be noted that many portals, like the Graveyard Gate, remain resistant to magical means of entrance. On the plus side, this use of phase tends to cut down on time spent trying to figure out how to open the door. Also, a failed attempt at phasing through a door does not result in injury to the caster.

705 Break Limb : BREAKLIMB

One of the target's limbs snaps painfully, breaking it. If the limb is a leg, the target will fall, and if the limb is an arm, what is being carried by that arm/hand will fall to the ground.

Special Notes:

Breaking a limb on a target causes a 2/ round bleeder.
Shattering an opponent’s limb does not cause any other damage other than bleeding.
The same limb can be broken numerous times.
The caster of the spell will receive experience if his or her group kills the affected creature.

Strategy:
For it’s cost, Break Limb can provide a Sorcerer with a quick and effective way to gain a quite AS advantage over an opponent.

Casting Break Limb on an creature will randomly shatter one of its arms, hands, or legs. Targeting an arm, hand, or leg is out-of-the question, especially since the same bone can repeatedly be broken. However, breaking an opponents arm or leg usually causes a AS and/or DS loss. If a leg is broken, that creature drops to the ground, giving it -50 to its AS and +50 to its opponents’ AS. If an arm or hand is broken, then that creature drops whatever it is holding in that appendage. Thus, the creature will drop any weapon or Shield it is holding in that hand, and incur the appropriate AS/DS penalty.

Several strategies exist with this spell. Some casters use it when solo hunting, causing a creature to suffer a momentary loss of AS/DS and then hitting them with a weapon. Others use it when group hunting, allowing more than one person to take advantage of a creature’s folly. Using Break Limb in a group setting provides the caster with a cost effective way to get experience: for just five mana, a Sorcerer can get full experience providing his or her group kills the effected creature (Note: some people have reported getting less than full experience on occasion). The downside of these strategies is that the effects of Break Limb are momentary; a creature can easily stand up or grab whatever it dropped and then resume its attacks.

Another use of Break Limb is much more risky. Some creatures are armed with unique items or have the ability to pick them up. For example, a Spider Priest can pick up a better weapon if it is lying on the group. Some Sorcerers have been known to cast Break Limb at these creatures in an attempt to get them to drop the items. This is a risky strategy as it only has a 33.5% each cast of it working. The one exception to this rule is targeting something wielding a two-handed weapon. Here, the odds are 66.5% as only one arm or hand needs to be broken for it to drop the item.

706 Mind Jolt : Duration: 1 sec/1 failure : MINDJOLT

Causes the target's brain to be jolted by a minor electrical shock whose phase is in opposition to the synaptic network communication causing the target to be stunned.

Special Notes:

Mind Jolt is cumulative. Multiple stuns increase the time the target is stunned.
The length of time a something is stunned depends on how badly it fails its warding roll.
Creatures Mind Jolted and then killed by a group yield full experience to the stunner.
Attacking a stunned creature has no effect on the stuns duration.
Certain types of creatures and the undead are immune Mind Jolt.

Strategy:
Though Mind Jolt does no real damage to its victims, it is one of the most popular combat spells Sorcerer’s use.

Because Mind Jolt yields full experience in group combat situations (as long as the creature is still stunned when it is killed), many use it in group combat, stunning a creature and then setting it up for a kill by others. However, you should not discount stun for solo hunting. There are several advantages a Sorcerer will gain by stunning a foe.

First, Mind Jolt is a good spell to throw at creatures with a propensity for running, such as Forest Trolls. The afflicted creature will stay in the room doing nothing, allowing you to get in a few choice attacks. Mind Jolting a creature also gives a sorcerer time to ready deadlier spells which make take some time to prepare. Suddenly, that 10 second prep time for Dark Catalyst doesn’t look so bad when the creature it will be cast upon is stunned and doing nothing. Finally because stunning does no real damage to it’s target, it is an effective spell to throw in PvP situations, giving someone pause to consider his or her actions before lethal blows are exchanged.

707 Eye Spy : Duration: 30sec/level : EYESPY

One of the caster's eyes grows tiny bat like wings and is able to fly away from the caster. The caster has complete control over the eye and will be able to see through it. The eye is controlled similarly to the familiar (wizard base, level 20) spell. If the eye is not in the same room with the caster when the spell's duration expires, the caster will lose the eye and take 3 to 30 points of damage.

The flying eye is, in reality, an illusion, and therefore cannot be attacked, webbed, affected by cloud spells, etc. Its movements, though, are restricted to what it can see. It cannot go through closed doors, or other areas where vision is limited.

Special Notes:
Eye Spy is NOT an illusion. Though the eye cannot be targeted, it can be effected by Implosion.

Commands: TELL EYE TO . . .

LOOK (get a view of the room)
GO (direction) or (object) (enter a place)
RETURN (return to head)

Strategy:
Eye Spy is another Sorcerer utility spell, although probably one of the most useful ones. Though the spell is difficult to use in combat situations until Evil Eye is learned, Eye spy can aid a sorcerer greatly. Some common uses of the spell include: using the remote eye to find creatures, players, area effect spells, or hazards (like stun clouds), and using the eye as a way to communicate with other adventurers. Since the former explanations are self apparent, I will explain the latter.

Some Sorcerers have been known to use Eye Spy as a communication device. Though the eye cannot speak, a wily sorcerer can use its movements to relay certain messages. For example, an eye repeatedly entering and leaving a room tells others in that room to follow it. The eye can also be used as a straight forward guide, leading people to a specific place or person. The major flaw with using the eye in this way is that it requires a great deal of creativity on the caster’s part and on the recipient party’s part to interpret the gestures. Communication is a difficult process, especially when the communication device is mute and drips gore.

708 Pain Infliction : Duration: 30sec/5 failure : PAIN

Target takes 25% of its remaining health points (i.e., those not already taken); these points are healed when the duration is up, provided the target has not died.

Note: Casting this spell multiple times on a target has no effect.

Special Notes:
This spell gives experience in group hunts, but it must be active when the monster is killed.

Strategy:
Though this spell can be used in solo hunting, it is most effective with group hunts.

On face value. Pain Infliction does not look very powerful. For 8 mana a Sorcerer can take away 25% of a target’s health for a temporary period of time. So what? The power of this spell comes later on, when you are facing creatures with more than 400 Hit Points. Mammoth Arachnids, which have 575 hit points, for example, loose around 144 Hit Points with a successful cast. To do that much damage, one would have to average 50 points of damage with three Mana Disrupts, an unlikely prospect when hunting at or near level! The best use of this spell is to hunt in a group, have a Sorcerer cast this spell on the target, and have the rest of the group finish the creature off. The downside? The duration is short, so the rest of the group will have to work quick!

709 Quake : QUAKE

A minor quake is caused in the caster's location, and all adjacent rooms. Everyone in the area of effect must make a moderate saving roll to remain standing. Note that the effect is actually an illusion, the disruption is not in the ground but in the minds of everyone in the area of effect. As such no structural damage will result and the caster is completely immune to the effect.

Note: Attacking a fallen opponent lowers their AS and DS by 50. This is an easy way to get a big advantage over an opponent. This spell is more likely to cause victims to fall down than the wizard base Tremors spell.

Special Notes:
Since this spell is an illusion, it can be used in town without a fine.

Strategy:
Though powerful, this is a very difficult spell to use for a number of reasons. For starters, the spell has the ability to effect everything in your room and adjacent rooms, thereby posing a risk to others. Afflicted creatures tend to respond to the spell and stand quickly. Additionally, many things are surprisingly resistant to Quake, meaning that a quake will not always effect the intended target.

Responsible casters of this spell will generally yell out a warning before its use. This allows others to respond to what is about to occur and allows to take the appropriate actions (i.e. Leaving the area, sitting so the spell will not knock him or her over …). Many spell casters choose to use this spell in crowded rooms to gain a little time while the afflicted creatures stand. It is a nice spell for group hunts, though, especially with the AS advantages it temporarily gives.

710 Energy Maelstrom : Duration: variable : MAELSTROM

The caster summons dark energy to swirl around him or her, creating a storm which will blast through everyone and everything in the room. A most potent spell which can be very dangerous to bystanders.

Special Notes:

This spell will not affect people joined to the caster.
A Sorcerer can only summon one Maelstrom per room at a time.
Maelstrom does three types of damage: electrical, pummeling with ice, and cutting with debris.
Maelstrom can cause bleeding injuries, stun creatures, and break limbs.
Deaths by Maelstrom are considered unwarranted PvP deaths.
The tempest caused by Maelstrom no longer surrounds the caster; it can be left behind in rooms.
Leaving the tempest in a room shortens Maelstrom’s duration.

Strategy:
This is one of the most deadliest Sorcerer spells. However, it is a great way to kill large numbers of creatures.

When using Maelstrom, a caster is advised to:

Avoid casting it in populated areas or places where people are likely to pass through.
Avoid casting it near entrances to places or down paths lacking multiple exits.
Avoid casting when the system is slow (i.e. during lags).
Announce his or her location over the net, if possible.
Frequently yell a warning that the spell is being cast, complete with a location of the room.
Keep his or her group status open, and grab anyone that enters the room.
Lk and drag anyone killed by the storm, and later pay for deeds.
Hunt in a group if possible, to share these responsibilities.
Never, ever leave the room when the spell is in effect.

Keeping these guidelines in mind, there are several ways a Sorcerer can hunt with this spell. The traditional way is to go for straight out kills, with casting Maelstrom as many times as needed until the intended targets die.

However, many other sorcerers just use the spell to cause a number of bleeding injuries on creatures, and then allow them to die off later If a number of creatures are resistant to bleeding injuries, like the undead or golems, a Sorcerer often will cast this spell a few times to do a significant amount of damage to the creatures (usually around 50%) so that someone can kill the creatures later and they both will gain experience for the kills. . In this way, experience can be gained after a hunt, almost as if this spell was a mass-bloodburst attack.

The downsides of these strategies:

1) No fame or treasure for kills
2) Wounded creatures may turtle
3) It is difficult to gauge how much damage was inflicted upon each creature when you are Maelstrom several of them.

As a side note, there are very few places where Maelstrom is safe in the lands. Be careful and considerate of your fellow adventurers. Also, NEVER leave a tempest in a room unattended - the odd are too great that it will injure someone who blunders into the room and cause an accidental player death.

711 Limb Disruption : LIMBDSRPT

A most painful spell, this will cause one of the target's limbs to explode and fall to the ground.

Special Notes:

A 3/round bleeder will be caused by a successful cast.
No extra damage other than the bleeding injury is caused by this spell.
The caster of the spell will receive experience if his or her group kills the affected creature.
Limb Disruption no longer causes player characters to drop items.

Strategy:
Many of the same strategies listed with Break Limb are also applicable to this spell. However, there is once crucial difference between Break Limb and Limb Disruption. Whereas Break Limb just breaks an appendage, Limb Disruption completely destroys it when cast. This makes it nearly impossible for a creature which has been affected by Limb Disruption to stand up or pick up items, depending on what limb was disrupted.

An additional strategy thus exists with Limb Disruption. At higher levels, many creatures become more intelligent and can react to area effect spells like Maelstrom or Implosion by running away. One or two Limb Disruptions to the creature’s legs, however, makes it impossible for them to escape the upcoming onslaught. This spell also does a decent job of incapacitating a creature such that a Sorcerer can throw other spells at it which may require a longer preparation time or more time to take effect.

712 Throes of Pain : THROEPAIN

This works as 708 Pain Infliction, except the loss of health points is not temporary. This spell is cumulative.

Special Notes:
This spell also works with Pain Infliction (708)

Strategy:
Many of the strategies applicable to Pain Infliction also applies to this spell. I will note, however, that because this spell has a permanent effect it is more effective to use in group hunting than Pain Infliction.

However, an effective strategy with group hunting is to have one person cast Throes of Pain on a target, another cast Pain Infliction, and then have the rest of the group finish a creature off. A cheap way to kill a creature with lots of hit points off, especially something like Troll Kings.

713 Nightmare : Duration: 1 sec/1 failure, Maximum 90 seconds. : NIGHTMARE

Each person and creature has its own specific worst nightmare, which the sorcerer is able to summon with this spell. For most players, it will be a certain creature which will suddenly shimmer into view and begin to battle them. Just as one cannot battle their nightmares, the target will be unable to battle this creature. It will seem to them as if every second they are about to die in some hideous manner.

Note: The spell may not begin until a few seconds after it has been cast in order for the illusion to develop.

Note: The unfortunate player or creature affected by this spell will often be stunned, fall to the ground, scream in fright, beg for mercy, and sometimes take damage.

Special Notes:

This spell caused the target to fall down and drop its items.
Nightmare stuns the afflicted target.
Nightmare also causes a Hit Point loss with the target, and can be lethal.
The effects of Nightmare can be ended at any time if one cast Forget (703) on the victem.

Strategy:
Nightmare is an interesting combo spell, in that it stuns the target, forces it to drop items in its hands, and causes it to lose Hit Points.

Because of its limited duration, expensive casting cost, and time to come to fruition, many Sorcerers avoid using it as a staple hunting tool, especially since other spells do a better job at producing one of the intended effects for less mana. However, those that do use it tend to enjoy its superfluous effects (listening to the creature scream and beg for mercy).

714 Life Burst : Duration: variable : LIFEBURST

Each living creature has its own life force. The Life Burst spell attacks the life force of each creature, using it against them to tear at their body. This spell will not only drain the target of its spirit health, but will also damage it physically.

Note: Undead creatures are immune to this spell.

Special Notes:
Life Burst has not been implemented yet, and may change radically from its description.

715 Curse : Duration: variable : CURSE

Curses tend to be specific to the caster. Most sorcerers will have curses which will modify AS, DS, casting ability, spell warding ability, etc. The form of curse the caster has will never change.

Note: This spell may be neutralized by the clerical spell 'Remove Curse'. As well, when this spell is cast upon items, it will curse them.

Special Notes:

Each Sorcerer has four different curses.
Three curses are randomly assigned to each sorcerer.
All sorcerers have a curse which reduces its target’s TD by 25.
A caster selects a curse by changing stances.
Curse can be cast at an opponent or an item.
Cursing an opponent causes a momentary effect, and permanently curses a number of its items.
A curses effect tends to be determined by how badly the target failed its warding roll.
A curse item cannot be dropped , discarded, or sold.

Types of curses, appearances and effects:

The Fleas - Target looks uncomfortable - Creature drops items and scratches itself .
Bad Mojo - Target looks concerned - Victim attacked by dark spirits. Takes damage and may be stunned
TD Drop - Target looks vulnerable - Opponent gets -25 to its TD.
AS Drop - Target looks weak - Afflicted get -40 to AS.
DS Drop - Target looks confused - Victim gets -50 DS.
Clumsy - Target looks clumsy - Creature falls down. Limbs may suffer damage, including bleeders.

Strategy:
Curse is a particularly potent spell because of its diversity and duration. Because of the numerous types of curses, several different strategies exist.

General Strategy with curses falls into two categories: targeting an opponent and setting a trap. Targeting an opponent with a curse is self explanatory: choose a curse, select the appropriate stance, then cast the spell at the target. Setting a trap is more involved, but can also be more rewarding. Simply drop an item (such as a weapon or shield) where a creature is sure to find it, cast curse at it, then wait for a creature to enter the room and for the fun to begin. The creature will more than likely pick the object up, thereby causing it to be cursed. Please note that this is not a strategy to be used in populated areas, as innocent bystanders are likely to pick the cursed items up. Cursing items such that other adventures will pick them up is considered an abuse of game mechanics, and GM’s may take appropriate actions.

In regards to specific curses, cursing a creature in Stance Offensive (which drops TD) is the most common usage of the spell, particularly since the targeted creature does not get a warding roll to resist; the effects are automatic. This is a quick way to get around a creature’s warding defenses, especially if said creature can cast spells which increase its TD’s. Unfortunately, switching into Offensive Stance leaves you temporarily open to attacks.

All curses tend to be very amicable to group hunting, especially ones that cause a drop in the target’s DS like Clumsy (-50 DS until the creatures stands up) and the DS curse. Curses such as The Fleas and Bad Mojo are also useful as they temporarily distract the afflicted creature. Finally, like Break Limb and Limb Disrupt, The Fleas can be used to knock items out of a creature’s hands, although its success rate tends to be 100% so long as the creature fails its warding roll.

716 Disease : Duration: variable : DISEASE

This spell inflicts an extremely debilitating disease on the target based on how badly the spirit warding has failed. The disease will cause 1 point of damage for every 3 levels of the caster, plus 1 point for every 5 points the spirit warding was failed each round. The disease has a dissipation rate of 1.

Special Notes:
Disease does not work effectively on the undead and certain creatures.

Strategy:
Like Bloodburst, Disease is an excellent way to set-up a long term experience gain. Just cast it on the intended target when your mind is full, then wait for it to die at a safe place where your mind can clear and absorb some of the future gains from the diseased creature. The question is, why use it over Bloodburst?

Disease has several advantages over Bloodburst. First, the injuries that Disease inflicts are viral based. As such, a creature cannot avoid further damage by tending or bandaging itself. This makes Disease an ideal choice when hunting intelligent creatures which may have learned the aforementioned skills. Another advantage that disease has over Bloodburst is that it inflicts more damage at higher levels and thus kills the intended target quicker. For example, a Diseased creature such as a Mammoth Arachnid will die much more quickly than a Bloodbursted one, making long term kills feasible on creatures with massive numbers of hit points. The one major downside of using disease over bloodburst is that disease dissipates, thus leaving the possibility that a creature can survive the ravages of the viral infection.

717 Evil Eye : EVILEYE

They say the eyes are the window to the soul. Certainly the target of this spell will believe this to be the case, as the sorcerer summons the power to instill fear to the very root of the target's being. Sometimes the target will run from the room, or freeze, unable to move because of fright. Other times, if the target is a player, s/he may not stop running from the caster until they reach the safety of town.

Note: This spell has an interesting side ability - when coupled with the floating eye spell, the caster will be able to target creatures and players in the room with him or her, or in the room with the sorcerer's floating eye (although the power of the spell diminishes when cast remotely).

Special Notes:

Evil Eye is ineffective against the undead and certain types of monsters.
Casting Evil Eye in conjunction with Eye Spy turns the spell into an area-effect spell.
Casting Evil Eye in conjunction with Eye Spy gives creatures +25 to their warding rolls.
A creature must fail its warding by 199 in order to be killed instantly by Evil Eye.
Creatures that flee from an evil eye still yield experience.
Creatures unable to run from an evil eye due to an injury or stunning fall unconscious.
Adventures hit by Evil Eye cast from Eye Spy make their warding roll use their CS instead of TD
Characters scared by the Evil Eye will run to the North Gate of their town of residence.
The target’s TD will drop by 1 for every two levels above 17 the spell caster is.
- 100 - 138 : run into next room
- 139 -168 : stunned in fear
- 169 - 198 : Flee in terror
- 199+ : drops dead

Strategy:
Evil Eye can be used for a multiple of purposes and the fact that it can be used as a remote spell makes it the spell of choice amongst many higher level Sorcerers.

Cast by itself, Evil Eye will target one individual. Depending on how badly the intended target fails its warding roll, it will either cower (similar to being stunned), drop the items it is holding, flee, or drop dead instantly. Since forcing a creature to flee yields full experience, many do not mind that the creature cannot be searched for treasure. Still, this is an important factor to keep in mind, particularly when it is possible a monster is carrying a forty-pound box of silver.

Another interesting fact about Evil Eye concerns its effect on playing characters. Adventurers forced to flee will return to Wehnimer’s North gate. Cases have been reported that this is true even of adventurers stationed in Icemule, although this may be a bug that will change in the conceivable future. Still, Sorcerers should be cautioned: that the lethal effects of an Evil Eye still work on adventures as well.

Another way to use Evil Eye is as a remote weapon, through the Eye Spy Spell. To do this, a Sorcerer must cast Eye Spy, position the floating eye-ball so it is in the same room with the intended targets, and then cast Evil Eye. The net-effect is a mass attack spell, with everything in the room effected by the spell.

The advantages of using Evil Eye in this way is that:

Multiple creatures can be effected
A Sorcerer can attack creatures while remaining a safe distance from them.

The major downsides are that:

creatures’ warding abilities are enhanced somewhat (+25) when this type of attack is used
others may search your kills
there is always the possibility that someone may unintentionally walk into the room during the attack.

718 Torment : Duration: variable : TORMENT

This spell will last for as long as the caster is able to concentrate on it. Each round that it is maintained the target must make a Spirit warding. If the target fails the spirit warding, it takes damage in relation to how much it failed by. However, if it successfully makes its spirit warding, the caster must then make an spirit warding roll, or suffer up to 25% of his/her total health points in damage, but may still be able to maintain the spell.

Examples of things which might break the caster's concentration would be: movement, being attacked, being stunned by the recoil of this spell, etc. Sometimes when the caster loses control of the force active in this spell, it will remain sensing that either the caster or the target is near death and hoping one last attack on one or both will finish them off, much to its delight, whatever 'it' is.

Often times this spell will not end until either the caster or the target is dead.

Special Notes:

The caster Torment need not be in the same room as the effected creature for it to work.
For the best results with Torment, switch to Stance Offensive when damaging the creature.
This spell works on the undead.
There can only be one Torment on a creature at a time.
Multiple creatures can be effected as long as each is targeted with a separate Torment.
- A creature’s TD is effected by the caster’s Stance, Age, and whether there are any additional Torments in effect.

Caster’s Stance:	Target's TD:
Offensive	-50
Advancing	-30
Forward	-10
Neutral	+10
Guarded	+30
Defensive	+50

The victim’s TD is also modified by age differences. The difference between the target’s age and the caster’s is multiplied by 3 and added or subtracted to the target’s TD.
If the caster is not in the same room as the target, it’s TD is increased by an additional 25.
Each additional Torment in effect raises each creature’s TD by 10

Strategy:
Though risky, torment provide Sorcerers with another remote attack.

Successful torment strategy involves time, strategy, and patience. For the best results, a caster will usually choose a target unable to rapidly boost its TD ( cast spells that effects is warding rolls) or incapacitate that target via Mind Jolt. Some Sorcerers even recommend reducing the targets TD by either Cursing it (Curse in Stance Offensive) or by dispelling its warding protection spells with Elemental Dispel (417), since each attack by torment allows a creature to make another warding roll to resist. The caster then casts Torment at the target, either casts invisibility on him/herself or moves to a safe location like a node, and then switches to an Offensive Stance. Switching to an Offensive Stance devotes the spell caster’s full attention to the battle of wills. A spell caster is cautioned when choosing a safe spot not to choose one which is out of the hunting area (a place where other creatures are hunted); this breaks the spell casters concentration and ends the spell. Regardless, providing that the caster’s concentration is not broken, torment will result in the death of the afflicted creature. The advantages of Torment are that it can used from a safe distance and it produces a guaranteed kill. The disadvantages: you might not be able to search the creature before it decomposes or someone else gets to it and torment might wind up killing you.

719 Dark Catalyst : DARKCAT

Targets of this spell will have their magical energy, be it elemental or spiritual, ripped from them and converted into raw force which will damage them in the form of heat, cold, and/or electricity. The amount of damage taken is dependent on the target's current amount of magical power and the failure of their spirit warding. Targets with little magical energy will not be significantly affected by this spell.

Part of the magical energy drained from the target is transferred directly to the sorcerer - the amount the sorcerer receives is dependent on the amount taken, as well as his/her Mana Transfer skill.

Special Notes:

Creatures may be immune Dark Catalyst’s attacks (Fire, Cold, Electricity, Concussion).
The target’s TD will drop by 1 for every two levels above 19 the spell caster is.
The amount of mana returned by a creature is variable.
Your Mana Share ability effects the amount of mana you receive from a target of this spell.
Training in mana share more than 24 times doesn’t increase the mana gains from Dark Catalyst.
A wounded creature killed by Dark Catalyst tends to yield more mana than a healthy one.

Strategy:
Dark Catalyst is a powerful spell which eventually replaces Mana Disrupt as the stable spell of high level sorcerers. Particularly advantageous about the spell is the fact that the spell gives some mana back to the caster and the fact that it reduces its targets TD somewhat, depending on the level of the Sorcerer. The amount that the affected creature’s TD is reduces is usually around one for every two levels the sorcerer is above nineteen. This, a twenty-first level sorcerer would force his or her target’s TD to drop by one, a twenty-third level sorcerer would reduce the TD by two, and so on.

A major part of the strategy involving Dark Catalyst revolves around maximizing mana returns from the spell. Field tests have proven that a wounded creature killed by Dark Catalyst will give more mana back to a Sorcerer than one in perfect health. As such, many sorcerers recommend wounding a creature first with Mana Disrupt, then following the attack up with a Dark Catalyst. Also, as a general rule of thumb older creatures, particularly those that use magic, will give a Sorcerer more mana.

720 Implosion : IMPLOSION

This spell will destroy all the air around the target(s) in a specific area, subjecting them to 'vacuum' injuries. As the air rushes back into the area (a second later), the target(s) will not only be subjected to the force of the returning air, but as well it is likely light objects will fly at them from the room in which it was cast, as well as adjoining rooms, potentially striking them and doing added damage. This spell can be truly devastating.

Special Notes:

Implosion is a dangerous spell that affects both the room it is cast in and adjacent rooms.
Implosion injures targets in the following ways: void vaporization, air damage, debris damage.
Players sucked in a void are vaporized; they die and every body part suffers massive injuries.
Adventures killed by a void have their bodies deposited in the nearest Town Square.
Flying objects caused by the void can inflict injuries.
How long a void lasts and its power is aged based.
Player deaths by Implosion are considered unwarranted PvP deaths.
A void can be dispelled with Elemental Dispel (417).

Strategy:
Implosion is the most powerful Sorcerer spell. It is also, by far, the most dangerous.

When casting Implosion, a Sorcerer is advised to use precautions similar to the ones a Maelstrom spell has. Just to emphasize my point, I’ll repeat them:

Avoid casting it in populated areas or places where people are likely to pass through.
Avoid casting it near entrances to places or down paths lacking multiple exits.
Avoid casting when the system is slow (i.e. during lags).
Announce its location over the net, if possible.
Frequently yell a warning that the spell is being cast, complete with a location of the room.
Lk and drag anyone killed by the implosion, and later pay for deeds.
Try hunting in a group, to share these responsibilities

The only major difference between these and an Maelstrom’s precautions is that if someone enters the room, grab them immediately and then dispel the void. The only responsible thing to do in this situation is to DISPEL the void with Elemental Dispel (417). Once again, you are responsible for any deaths or injuries caused by the use of this spell and a GM can/will take appropriate actions.

That being said, you have the greatest change to kill something with implosion if it is sucked into the void. Stunning or knocking down a creature before a void is summoned greatly enhances these changes. Many Sorcerers use Mind Jolt on their intended victims. A more effective strategy is to have an embedded object or another spell caster cast Call Wind (912) and then following this spell up with Implosion. Call Wind can stun all the creatures in the room, knock them over, and put them into an offensive stance, thus leaving them open to the ravages of the void (Note: call wind also dispels any Spirit Barrier spells (102), so Sorcerers best be cautious!). Then, dispel the void with Elemental Dispel (417) before it effects adjacent rooms. Please note that the void sucks creatures into it after it is summoned and WHEN it is dispelled, either by its duration ending or by a well-aimed Elemental Dispel.

If a sight is particularly remote, a Sorcerer may drop a few items in the room. Items laying on the group become debris that can be sucked into the void and damage/stun opponents along the way.

Once again, this spell is very dangerous, particularly in its later stages when it begins to suck the air out of adjacent rooms. When this happens the air is sucked out of the room and may damage passer-byes. Further, people sucked into a void become vaporized; those individuals die and every body part suffers a major injury. Since a body must be healed of bleeding injuries before resurrected, an Empath must spend a long time transferring the vaporized person’s injuries. Most won’t even bother, forcing the person to decompose. Because of these considerations, most Sorcerers will reframe from casting this spell, EVER! Regardless, a Sorcerer should not try using this spell until she or he has the spell Elemental Dispel (417) and has at least 23 levels (for instant preparation time for 417). Also, though Implosion is embeddable, no self-respecting Sorcerer will ever imbed the spell for others unable to cast this spell. The possibility that these people may misuse the power of Implosion, intentionally or unintentionally, has too sever of consequences. It is important to note that GM’s can trace the origin of a spell back to the original embedding Sorcerer; these people too, may face sever penalties.

725 Demonic Summoning : Duration: variable : DEMONSUMM

This spell will allow the caster to summon specific, unique demons to (hopefully) do the caster's bidding. For details on how this spell and how the summoning system works, refer to the article in the documentation which describes it.

Woe to the caster who loses control of this type of demon. The immediate effects would most likely include something extremely unpleasant.

Special Note:

A Sorcerer’s ability to summon a demon is effected by his or her Discipline.

A Sorcerer’s ability to control a summoned demon is effected by his or her Charisma.

This spell is not implemented.

Final Note:
Two other spells exist in the Sorcerer Sphere -- Banishing and Counter Warding. Banishing will be used to dispel demons while Counter Warding will probably leave a creature completely defenseless to the next warding spell cast at it. Little else is known about the effects of these spells.

Conclusion:
Please note that the information in this guide is far from complete. What a spell actually looks like, how much damage it can do, and strategies on when you should actually learn these spells are left to your discretion and experimentation. Also, be aware that magic is not a static force, but rather dynamic. Spell effects are constantly changing and certain creatures may develop a newfound resistance to your spells.

Oh, and one other thing. Many of you may be wondering why one such as I would so freely give information about my craft, especially considering I have so many enemies and I am, in the words of some paranoid. My reasoning is simple. One, a spell is only really effective as the strategic mind using it. And more importantly, two, I didn’t say I was going to reveal all my secrets, now did I?

Credit:
Several different sources have provided invaluable information to the compilation of this guide. Spell descriptions, for example, were taken from the Spell Tomes of Elanthia, found under the Player Information Window of GSIII on AOL. Many questions were answered by individual adventurers, either in the lands or on the Sorcerer topic under Strategies and Tactics. Lord Sylvendale Thriftfellow was of great help in proofreading this guide and in conducting a test of armor’s AdV and spell hindrance. For information on Sorcerer construction/development, and I also highly recommend Thalior’s Da Farmer’s Guide to Sorcerers, Lord Manny’s Guide to Sorcerers, and Sylvendale’s The Statistical Sorcerer Guide, also found in the Player Library.

- from Zanteal's personal library.
Documents and manuscripts gathered since 1996.