Questions about Sorcerers

[Fendelphi]

So I have been playing this game a little bit now(only vanilla), and have mostly been playing Theocrat, Warlord and Dreadnought.

Now I am about to try out the Sorcerer, but I am a bit uncertain on what "specifications" I should choose for my magelord.

Considerations:
1) Race;
I am considering either playing an Orc or Dwarf sorcerer. The reason? Well, Sorcerers are, from what I have read, less dependent on class-race synergies(most of their synergies are between their summons, and support units, which they can provide themselves). Which is good, because Orc and Dwarf units are fairly good on their own.
They also have a decent amount of spells which enhance melee in some way(static electricity, which grant all allied units static shield, while decreasing lightning resistance of enemies).

In addition, both races have fairly strong tier 3 units that can benefit from potential stuns a lot(they are not good at flanking themselves), and their inherent support units are fairly robust and provide you with an alternative damage type and additional supportive effects(Noxious/poison/immolation).

The Sorcerer can generally compensate for some of the weaknesses of these races(mobility, ranged combat), while at the same time enhancing their strong sides as well.

2) Specializations. I know this is highly individual from player to player, and also depends on what type of map you are playing, and how you plan to interact with others are going to be(creation/destruction).
I "usually" go for creation mastery, but maybe more aggressive magic specializations would be better?
- Dwarfs definately synergizes with Fire adept(oil) quite well and would also make it possible for the dwarfs to like Tropical(which they usually dislike).
- Orcs could benefit from either Wind or Destruction mastery(again, to diminish the impact of "dislikes" as well as supporting their lack of ranged strengths).
- Earth Mastery seems good too, due to Earthquake not targeting floaters and fliers(which eventually will be most of your armies).
Another idea would be to use expansionsim to further enhance, well, expanding.

Any feedback would be welcome.

[Gloweye]

As race, pick whatever you want your Apprentice[age-of-wonders-3.wikia.com] to have. Some notes here:
1) Dwarf has armored. Therefore, it's the one to survive the longest.
2) Draconian has Fire Bomb, and can thus stun AoE (With School of Enchantment[age-of-wonders-3.wikia.com]). However, it's 3-shot attack has only 1 element, and can thus not do as much damage once a target is stunned.
3) High Elf Supports have Total Awareness. However, the racial Support already gets Inflict Stun on Gold Medal, so that's redundant once they all stun. (though if you consider Eternal Lords, higher Race Governance will allow your elven supports to ignore line of sight penalties.. and your sisters their ranged penalties.)

If you ever get Eternal Lords, Frostlings have a T3 Support who gets Inflict Frozen on gold. School of Enchantment will add the Stun, so that's one big CC bomb you can use AoE - but it's melee only.

Furthermore, take whatever you want along your Sorc melee line - you'll be having some incorporeal units early, so make sure that your race can handle elemental damage sources to be well rounded. Dwarves and Elves come to mind here(higher Res, in the case of elves good ranged physical damage).

Same for specs. Fire adept gives a nice additional element and a Fire summon to supplement your Shock summons, and Earthquake is indeed a nice spell with your all-floating army.

One thing to think about is Destruction Master - a Sorc has nice access to powerful direct damage spells, and if you're planning on having those at the core of your strategy, Storm Magic is something to consider going for.

Note that races I didn't name aren't necessarily bad choices or anything. However, race matters less with a Sorc than it would with for example a Warlord or Theocrat.

[OngBak]

I really recommend to consult the community guide about specializations, it has a 5 star ranking and really earns it. It may give you some insight for your considerations :)

The Age of Magic - A Guide to Specializations

[Fendelphi]

Originally posted by QuanTuM:

I really recommend to consult the community guide about specializations, it has a 5 star ranking and really earns it. It may give you some insight for your considerations :)

The Age of Magic - A Guide to Specializations

I have already read it and I have tried most of the specializations with other types of classes. I was more looking for people's own personal preferences(and why), similar to what Gloweye did.

But thanks anyway. :)

[OngBak]

Ok, so my personal preference:

Humans (cause I like them) + Destruction Master (+ Wild Magic Adept).

Storm Magic is a must have, but also disintegrating annoying foes is just too good and saved many tactical battles in my runs.
I think summoned unit's don't care about terrain, so you can get good use out of blight empire and even Wreck sometimes saves my run (but I rarely use it).
I play mostly good alignment but I like scorched earth / hasty plunder too much so I still use it, as a sorcerer you don't need every city of your enemy and razing your opponent's cities in just one turn or force them to raze it by themselfes if they want it back is just, at least in my opinion, a game changer.

Best race synergy with sourcerer (in my opinion) is high elves, a little research boost is really good for a sorcerer and it adds up in the long run. As already mentoined, storm sister's are really useful, especially if you can evolve some initiates (even if it is very rare in my runs).

Consider the addon's, they really add some nice things: Wild Magics Degenerate is awesome, especial with the damage spells and the tactical value of swap locations is not to underestimate, you can even prepare the use of it because you can just summon a creature with an appropiate level before a battle to swap locations with more specific enemy units.