Sorcerer



The Sorcerer is an Advanced Vocation in Dragon's Dogma. It costs 1,000 Discipline Points (DP) to switch to this vocation.

Description
Schooled in the arcane arts, Sorcerers deploy the deadliest of magicks in battle. From meteor showers, massive ice spikes, and deadly necromancy, Sorcerers are truly a powerful force to behold and should never be underestimated.

Primary Weapon: Archistaves

Primary Offensive stat: Magick

Strengths and Role
Devastating Magicks: No other class is capable of harnessing the near-cosmic magickal forces that Sorcerers can wield. Sorcerers have access to the most powerful offensive magick spells.

Elemental Enchanting: Like the Mage, Sorcerers can use enchanting magicks to power up a companion's weapons with deadly elemental effects.

Crippling Debilitations: Sorcerers possess a variety of debilitating magicks that can affect larger crowds.

Field Mobility: The Levitate skill can be used for increased mobility when moving around the map. It can be used to grab ledges above you that even the Double Vault skill won't reach. An example is the Witchwood entrance near Cassardis, a quick shortcut to the Witch's house.

Incredible Magick Defense: Not many magick attacks will harm Sorcerers.

Highest Magick Attack Growth: Sorcerers have the highest Magick attack growth of all vocations in the game, useful for buffing up the strength of Magick attacks of other classes if you level a few times in this class.

Group Spellcasting: If a sorcerer (be it you or a pawn) starts casting a spell, an allied sorcerer that is close enough to the initial caster of the spell can mirror the spell and cast it much faster (e.g. If your pawn has started to cast high maelstrom and is almost done, if you're close enough you can start the spell at your pawn's current spellcasting progress, potentially making the cast time less than a second).

Weaknesses
No Healing Magics: Features no active healing or recovery skills (aside from Voidspell, which is really only useful to cure Petrification and Lowered defense inflicted by Leapworms).

Low Physical Defense: Sub-par physical damage threshold, also gets knocked back easily.

Low Health and Stamina: Their health gain per level is the lowest in the game, and stamina gain second lowest. Their combined gain up to level 100 is only 31 points per-level, tied with the Mage, where most other classes have a combined health/stamina gain of near 50.

No Evasive or Defensive moves: The Sorcerer class must rely on levitating away from danger since they cannot block or dodge roll to avoid incoming attacks. Always be aware of your surroundings when casting big spells to avoid being blindsided.

Slow Casting: Many of the Sorcerer's spells take a long time to cast so one must be careful when casting otherwise you may leave yourself open for an attack. Equipping the Articulacy augment and carrying the Wyrmking's ring in your inventory will shorten spellcasting times.



Golems: The glowing discs on Golems are immune to magic, so Sorcerers cannot destroy them with spells. The Arisen must jump and use the heavy attack button on the weak points. Pawns are sometimes useless at attacking the hard to reach areas of the palm and metatarsal (bottom of the foot).

Dark Bishop: The second boss of Bitterblack Isle cannot be hurt by most of the Sorcerer's spells.

Daimon: Compared to the other classes which rely on physical based attacks, the Sorcerer's spells inflict little damage to the main boss.

Skills
Augments: 33,600 DP Core: 6,600 DP Archistaff Skills: 86,000 DP Total Skills: 126,200 DP

Augments
For information on how augments impact stats and how stacking of multiple augments work see the Stats page.

Tips

 * To shorten spellcasting time, equip the Articulacy augment and carry the Wyrmking's Ring in your inventory.
 * Because of the long cast time for many of the Sorcerer's spells, it is advisable to equip at least one lower spell so that you have something that casts faster against quicker moving enemies.
 * Fire Boon/Fire Affinity is effective early in the game ("pre-game", before the battle against the Grigori dragon) as most enemies are weak to Fire.  In the post-game, (AFTER the battle against the Grigori dragon) Holy Boon/Holy Affinity is very effective, as most post-game monsters are vulnerable to Holy damage.
 * Try to mix your spell selection based on the different elements so that you can be prepared to fight against different enemy types. For example, have at least one fire-based spell, one ice-based, one-lightning spell, etc so that you are never helpless in a battle against an enemy immune to one or several elements.
 * Necromancy makes for an excellent offensive and defensive spell. The floating skulls it summons protects you from nearby enemies and causes severe damage.
 * Petrification is ineffective against bosses and most non-bosses.
 * Casting Maelstrom in an enclosed area like a dungeon may block your view of the area (although it won't cause any damage to you). But casting Maelstrom in a tight area and luring enemies into the center of the cyclone can increase damage by bouncing enemies into walls and ceilings.
 * Contrary to what seems a logical choice, it is a bad idea to use pawns that have a Guardian inclination when you are playing as a Sorcerer. Guardian pawns will move with you, sticking relatively close by to protect the Arisen. This is great when fighting Goblins or other smaller creatures, i.e. Bandits, but absolutely terrible against Golems and other large boss creatures. The Guardian will lead the enemy right to you, which usually results in interrupting a spell cast, and sometimes gets you grabbed. Go with Scathers or Mitigators to keep the enemy away from you. Or better yet, a Sorcerer pawn that has the "Utilitarian" Inclination will more often attempt to use the same spell as you to reduce cast time and do more damage (like Bolide).
 * Only Sorcerers can cast High Voidspell to cure both Petrification, and the Lowered Defense affliction caused by those pesky Leapworms.
 * While casting Boon/Affinity if you 'click' on the left joystick, you will target yourself. This is very useful for these kinds of spells.
 * If holding both the Primary and Secondary buttons down, the names of your primary skills will show but the active or "available" attacks are your secondary attacks
 * Sorcerers are ineffective against Golems, as their glowing discs protect them from spells. One way for a Sorcerer to defeat a Golem is by using High Exequy. It is necessary to have either another Sorcerer that knows this spell, so as to mirror yours, or to bring along a surplus of stamina replenishing Curatives.
 * The Sorcerer's Heavy Attack - the magick pulse that radiates from the palm - can also deal damage to the discs on a Magick Golem and the floating discs that power Metal Golems. This means getting in close to the Golem and some precise positioning, so it is advised that Sorcerers pay close attention to the Golem's actions to avoid heavy damage.
 * Brontide uses up Stamina quite rapidly. If you intend to use this spell frequently it is advised to spend a little time focusing on Stamina increasing Vocations such as the Ranger for a few levels.
 * The Focused Bolt in combination with Holy Boon/Holy Affinity/Holy Pact or other magical holy enchantments deals very high damage, especially against bigger enemies. Its fast loading time, ability to penetrate enemies (dealing damage while doing so and hitting multiple enemies in a row) and the high mobility while charging it make it one of the best skills for Sorcerers and Mages.