Hadiar's Guide to being a Sorcerer
If you're reading this, that means you're interested in being a Sorcerer, or interested in what I have to say about Sorcerers. Well, first and foremost, being a Sorcerer is *NOT* easy! In fact, some people consider it to be the hardest profession to manage in the game! If that makes you queasy, and you're not a patient person, read no further. Also, what I say in this guide is *NOT* law. Many people will disagree with me, many people will agree with me. I'm just writing this to give you an idea of what a Sorcerer is like, and how to effectively play one, instead of running blindly into the fire.
If you're still reading, good. I blatantly left out in that first paragraph that Sorcerers also become one of the most powerful professions in the game. Sounds good, right? Well, it is. <g> It was Sorcerers who originally saved Elanthia from the hordes of undead by unleashing their new magic of demons upon them. Even though we may be the weakest profession in our early years, it's actually quite the opposite once we reach our older ones. Keep in mind it won't be easy. In fact, many times you'll think of quitting,, and if you want to, do so. Keep in mind there are several professions in the lands, and perhaps Sorcery is not for you.

*I must also add something else, and I know I will get many people angry at me for saying this. But I'm VERY serious about this. At the time of this guides last update, there are currently FAR too many Sorcerers in the lands. Sorcerers outnumber other professions 2 to 1, and that is NOT good for the lands. The profession that used to be the least popular and considered the most difficult is now the most popular and seemingly least difficult. If you have ANY doubts about being a Sorcerer, do not be one. Choose another profession. If you decide to become a Sorcerer, trust me, you won't be unique. Just take a look at the fame lists. Whereas the last entry on the Sorcerer Fame List is in the 50,000,000's, the last entry on most of the other professions fame list is in the 300,000,000's. I'm sorry, but that's just not good. I just think a little population control on the Sorcerers would help, as I've again been seeing way too many evil Sorcerers in the lands (you'll read about that later in this guide), and most of them entered the lands when AOL stopped charging hourly, and nearly all of those Sorcerers who thought they had to be evil are now nobles, and possibly some of the worst roleplayers I have EVER witnessed in my three years in the lands. So, take my warning, and please take it seriously, for I fear that the lands will become a land of nothing but Sorcerers.

Now that that's over with, let's get to the guide.

Rolling Up The Sorcerer

Rolling up those perfect stats is probably one of the most important and at the same time frustrating parts of the game. Do NOT auto roll. It may be easy, but if you stay with the rolls the system gives you, you may end up regretting it. Instead do a full generation. When rolling up the numbers, try to keep the total of the numbers a minimum 620 or higher. It might take a very long time to get that, it might not.
A Sorcerer has 3 important stats. Those are Aura, Wisdom, and Discipline. This is because Aura determines how much mana you have, and your Wisdom and Aura bonus works together to determine your Casting Strength (CS). Since your CS is a Sorcerers main attack form, you want this high. Discipline works in coordination with Aura to give you a good and hefty supply of training points when you hit the inn, which makes it very important. Try to put your high rolls into these three stats, while considering that some races have good Aura and Wisdom bonuses, while others do not. Considering what race you'll choose to be, try to make it so the rolls are in the 80's or 90's. Take into account, though, that Sorcerers have a very good bonus for Aura and Wisdom, so those rolls will increase very rapidly. So do not feel obligated to put your only 100 roll in either of those.
Aside from those 3 rolls, the rest is really up to the rollers discretion. I've seen many Sorcerers who had varying rolls in the rest of their stats. A good order to put your other rolls in from highest to lowest would be : ST, RE, IN, LO, CO, DE, and CH. Keep in mind, though, that CH *might* have a hand in the soon to be implemented spell Demonic Summoning. Hopefully it will not, because many existing Sorcerers have used the CH roll to dump their low numbers, including me. Hopefully it will not. We'll just have to see.
Remember, this is your Sorcerer you're creating. You don't have to roll yours up this way.

Training the Sorcerer

Training the Sorcerer is rather easy. Try and train like this, though if you want to do if differently, feel free.

Spell Research- Learn two spells every year. One of those spells should always be from the Sorcerer Circle. Your other spell is really up to you. Get the spell lists for the Sorcerer Circle, Minor Elemental, and Minor Spiritual, and study them, and see which spells would be most useful to you. Also, once you get older and have trained to the max for physical skills, you may want to start learning a 3rd spell every other year or so. But don't neglect other skills just to learn a third spell. If you do that, you may just end up regretting it.
I recommend training in Minor Spiritual your first three years, to get spells 101-103, which are a necessity to a Sorcerers defense. Then training in Minor Elemental up to spell 414, giving you some VERY useful spells, such as Elemental Defense I-III, Unlock, Disarm, E-Blade (you can use E-blade on a normal weapon, giving it the same plus as vultite. You may want to use this instead of spending money on a vultite weapon.) and E-Wave. After you have 414, it's really up to you again. I suggest switching back to Minor Spiritual to get up to 107 and maybe 108, and then returning to Elemental to get Imbed. And once after that, returning yet again to Spiritual to get nifty spells like Fire Spirit, Locate Person, and Web. After that, choose what you want. Elemental offers you some more good DS spells, and a powerful transport spell at 450. Also, spell 425 and 430 have recently been changed so they also increase you CS, which can be VERY useful to a Sorcerer, because not only do those spells offer good defense, they will increase your spell strength. Spiritual at this point will offer you a good DS spell, a powerful lightning attack, a transport spell at 130, and Wall of Force (100 to your DS) at 150.

Edged or Blunt Weapons- Train in either edged or blunt weapons every year. Choose one and stick with it. I recommend edged, since edged weapons are easier to come by. But either way, choose one and always train in it every year. Keep in mind, though, a Sorcerer will rarely use their weapon after year 8 or so, because from there-on-in you'll be using mainly magic as your weapon. Training in your weapon however, will keep your defense up, which is very important.

Shield Use- Train in it every year. Keeps your defense up. Very important.

Armor Use- Will let you wear heavy armor without RT increase. Not entirely useful to a Sorcerer, actually. In fact, I recommend only wearing, light, full, or double leather your whole life. Why? Spell failure. If you wear anything heavier, you'll end up encountering a lot of armor hindrance while casting your spells, which can get in the way sometimes. I don't understand armor very well myself. Find and download armor charts and study them, to see what type does which. Personally, I wear enchanted and padded robes, and that's it. You can always have your leather enchanted, padded as well, and so on, and armor use is an expensive skill. I recommend bringing your skill in this up to 10, maybe 20, and leaving it at that. Others may disagree.

Physical Training- Important, but can be skipped every now and then because of its expense. Remember to train in it though, because you need to get your HP's up. Every other year, or so, if not every year. Once you reach your maximum hit points, you can stop training in it.

Perception- Useful, and a very cheap skill. Try and train in it every year or so, but only if you can.

Mana Sharing- Very important and useful skill to have. Try to get your skill in Mana Sharing up to 100 as soon as possible, but definitely have it up to 100 by level 19, because that's when you'll get Dark Catalyst. Should train in this every year, but can be skipped.

Scroll Reading- Very useful. Let's you read scrolls. Every year if you can. Can skip a year here and there.

Magic Item Use- Lets you use wands and rods and the such. Also works in coordination with Scroll Reading with invoking the spells on the scroll. Every year if possible. Can skip a year every now and then.

Spell Aiming- Pretty much useless to a Sorcerer. Increases your power with elemental spells from things like Wizard wands (Silver, Iron, Metal, Gold, Aquamarine, Slender Blue, Crystal). But since a Sorcerer will have spell 102 up most of the time while hunting with magic, their AS will be decreased by 50, INCLUDING their AS with Wizard wands. Don't bother with this skill, unless you want to use Wizard wands effectively. But remember, spell 102 *does not* effect your CS with Sorcerer spells.
This skill CAN, however, be useful in various situations. Sorcerers attack off the CS/TD tables. Oftentimes you'll run into a creature with a high TD, possibly too high for you to overcome, but possibly a low DS. If you find this to be the case, the only way to defeat that creature may be through the use of a wizard wand. That's where having a high AS with these wands could come in handy. You could e-wave or quake said creature, and then wave the wand at it, and if your skill is good enough, possibly kill it through that use. Only problem with that? Most Sorcerers hunt with Spirit Barrier up. That WILL effect your AS with the wizard wand by dropping it by 50 points, which could end up being a hinder. You could possibly dispel the airwall, but you may also dispel your elemental guards in the process, which could be a problem. Decide what you want to do.

First Aid- Very helpful. Lets you tend bleeding wounds, diagnose people to see their health status, and increases your skinning skill. Also useful if you plan on or are required to skin a lot. (Doo bee doo bee doooooo). Every other year or so, though only if you want. Not exactly a necessary skill. More of a useful skill to have.

Climbing and Swimming- Not very useful in your early years as a Sorcerer. Extremely useful in your later years. This skill will let you access areas that require skill in climbing and swimming to get to. If you can't spare the points on it in your early years, don't. But keep in mind that you WILL be needing these skills sooner or later, and I stress that, because it's very true. So train in them when you can, but whatever you do, don't ignore them. I'd say getting your skill in both of these up to 30-50 is good enough.

Lockpicking and Disarming. Lockpicking is not very useful to a Sorcerer. Disarming, on the other hand, can be. Sorcerers get spells (Unlock 407 and Disarm 408) which lets them Disarm and Unlock a locked container. Some Sorcerers choose to train in disarming so they can check for traps on a container on their own, without wasting the 8 mana it costs with 408, and 408 can easily miss a trap. The choice is yours.

Combat Maneuvers- This is a very difficult choice for Sorcerers. Combat Maneuvers is a very important skill, but for Sorcerers, it's extremely expensive. 22/15 points to train in it just once. What Combat Maneuvers will allow you to do is avoid those "unavoidable" spells, like Boil Earth, Web, and Quake. The only catch to that, is that you need *a lot* of skill in Combat Maneuvers just to avoid them. I know people with 160 skill in Combat Maneuvers that still get hits with Boil Earth more often then not. I do recommend training in this. This is where you need to carefully plan when you'll be training in certain skills. Since this skill requires so many points to train in, you probably won't be able to train in many other things the level you train in Combat Maneuvers. This skill is very important to the long term Sorcerer, because it's a requirement for many high level creatures that you'll end up hunting one day.

Other Skills- This is your choice. I've listed the basic skills you'll need. If you want to train in other skills, such as hiding, ambushing, brawling, two-handed weapons, and the such, do so. This is your Sorcerer you're creating, not mine, so do what you want with it. Just make sure you know what you're training in, before training in it.

What to Hunt

I HIGHLY suggest, that if you want to discover the lands for yourself, and find what to hunt for yourself, that you skip this entire section on what to hunt. A lot of the fun of GemStone is experimenting with various creatures to see which one is best suited to you.
This is a hard choice for Sorcerers. Because we won't be able to effectively use magic for our first 7 or 8 years, we must use our weapon instead. The problem with that is Sorcerers aren't the best weapon users.

Levels 0-4- Level 0 is a snap. Just visit every location on the DIR list. Soon you'll have enough to get to level 1. As a sidenote, download maps! For level 1, visit old warrior Thraak in the inn. If you answer his questions correctly, you'll get a beefy amount of free EXP. After that, deliver messages for the clerk in Moot Hall. This will get you EXP and money. In between notes, rest at a node, and if your mind drops below muddled and the clerk won't give you another message, hunt rats in the sewer nexus. This should get you to level 4 soon enough. If not, you can always move to Icemule, where young creatures swarm pretty well. Though a young Sorcerer can sometimes get overwhelmed by swarms.

Levels 4-7- No more notes here. Not allowed. I personally stuck with rats. I simply wasn't strong enough to hit anything else. Others may want to try creatures like cave gnomes or lesser orcs or goblins. Maybe even a few skeletons and lesser ghouls. Kobolds are also there, along with hobgoblins, and Icemule is still an option. These are basically the hardest years for a Sorcerer, simply because of the difficulty of finding a suitable creature to hunt. It gets easier though. Trust me. ;)

8-14- Eight is the turning point for a Sorcerer. We get mana disruption with no prep time. A good place to hunt is manticores and thraks. If you stay in guarded, and simply mana disrupt every manticore and thrak you see that is not engaged with someone else, you'll claim the EXP for it (as long as you hit it hard). Don't bother with killing it, takes too much time and mana, and is dangerous. When you run out of mana, and you think you've hit enough separate creatures, head back to town and let other people finish off your wounded ones. While resting in town, you'll have your mind go from clear to muddle to numbed. I've personally had my mind go from clear as a bell to needing rest while sitting in the tree house. =) This is a very good hunting strategy for any situation. Once you're too old for mants and thraks, give Shelfae Soldiers and Chieftans a try. They're pretty easy, and the only thing you need to worry about is the Chieftans quake. Also, you can pick up the Soldiers tridents and sell them at the pawnshop for around 100 coins a pop. Crystal golems are also an option, and they LOVE to swarm. Their quake is dangerous, though. Cave trolls are also an option. They take a lickin' and keep on tickin', though, and you may find yourself using your whole mana supply on a single cave troll.

15-19- Wraiths are pretty good to hunt at this point. Though somewhat frustrating. If you don't like wraiths, try experimenting with pumas and maybe Krolvin Mercenaries. And also, if you've been sticking with First Aid, pumas hides are valuable. Crystal golems are still pretty good at this point, as are cave trolls. When you get older, advance to Krolvin Warriors, and Fire Rats and Cats. Again with the First Aid, fire rat tails and fire cat claws a very valuable. Soon you can advance to the Spider Temple if you wish, though that area may still be a bit hard, and the nobles in there get annoyed when it takes someone 5 minutes to kill a priest, thereby hindering the gen nodes. If you find that to be the case, Nedum Vereri are a valuable hunting asset to a Sorcerer. Low TD, and they have an excellent gen rate. So are Storm Giant and Dark Shamblers, but they can be a dangerous combination. Storm Giants quake, and Dark Shamblers use two handed swords, so if a Shambler can get a hit through, it will hit you HARD. I also hear Storm Giants can cast death clouds now, so that can be very dangerous in itself.

20-25- Spider Temple is pretty much the only place a Sorcerer can go to, now. I personally hate this place. The gen rate stinks, and the hunters in there don't act any better then the hunters in the catacombs. And because Spider Priests are so rich, A LOT of people hunt there, and it's not exactly the largest area. I've been begging Simu to expand this area, but no such luck so far. Just keep up as strong a resistance as you can, here. Hunt with Mana Disruption, and Dark Catalyst once your prep time for it goes down. It's hard to get a fried mind here, so this is a somewhat slow going time. You'll get pretty rich, though. Think of it as compensation for having to put up with the attitudes you'll encounter here. (No offense to the Spider Temple hunters, of course. You probably feel the same way. <g>) Some other (risky) options are ghostly pookas under the crypt. These are very hard, as you must hunt them in advanced or offensive, have a powerful AS, and a TD of 99-110. Don't hunt there if you can't surpass their TD. Spectral Monks are also an option, but you'll need a very good swimming skill to reach them, and they can get very hard at times.