Dragon Disciple: Sorcerer, or Eldritch Scion?

[GrandMajora]

I'm trying to work up the motivation to play a Dragon Disciple, but have so far been hesitant to do so, after realizing that investing the full 10 levels in DD will likely mean I don't get access to the full list of bloodline perks from my base class.

So I'm curious as to whether or not Dragon Disciple is even worth the effort. And if so, which class is the better option to go with? Just from looking over the early abilities presented by Dragon Disciple, it seems like it would be good for a melee caster, which is what the Eldritch Scion specializes in. Learning spells at a slower pace than sorcerers also isn't much of a problem, since Magus classes only learn up to 6th level spells anyways.

Starting as a full sorcerer seems to be more of a gimmick, than something actually practical. Yes, they get some bonuses to strength and armor class. But if I'm focusing on casting spells, rather than wading into combat, I shouldn't really need those bonuses to begin with.

Have any of you tried out the Dragon Disciple in your play throughs? And if so, what kind of build did you think was effective?

[Pink Eye]

1 Scaled fist/ 4 Sorcerer/ 4 DD/ rest into monk. Or if you're playing on unfair 1 Scaled fist/ 1 vivi/ 1 rogue/ 2 sorcerer/ 4 DD/ Rest into Monk.

[Sephiroth]

From what I thought someone else said ... each level of DD is also a level in your sorceror so when you get 10 levels in DD and 10 levels in your Soreror class I THINK you are still supposed to be a level 20 sorceror and get that level 20 bonus from your race/heritage/class picks.

For me when I get to level 20 I will be immune to poison and electricity which will be awesome thanks to my demon heritage I picked forget the name exactly but I would expect to still receive that bonus with 10 levels in DD.

[Pink Eye]

Originally posted by Lichdom:

From what I thought someone else said ... each level of DD is also a level in your sorceror so when you get 10 levels in DD and 10 levels in your Soreror class I THINK you are still supposed to be a level 20 sorceror and get that level 20 bonus from your race/heritage/class picks.

For me when I get to level 20 I will be immune to poison and electricity which will be awesome thanks to my demon heritage I picked forget the name exactly but I would expect to still receive that bonus with 10 levels in DD.

Don't forget to put the rest into monk.

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by Lichdom:

From what I thought someone else said ... each level of DD is also a level in your sorceror so when you get 10 levels in DD and 10 levels in your Soreror class I THINK you are still supposed to be a level 20 sorceror and get that level 20 bonus from your race/heritage/class picks.

For me when I get to level 20 I will be immune to poison and electricity which will be awesome thanks to my demon heritage I picked forget the name exactly but I would expect to still receive that bonus with 10 levels in DD.

Not quite. Earning levels in DD counts for your CASTER level, not your class level. Unfortunately, this does not count for the first level of DD you earn. So if you're a level 5 Sorcerer and a level 7 Dragon Disciple, then you would be a level 11 Caster (5+6=11) instead of a 12th level caster (5+7=12)

[superlovi]

Originally posted by GrandMajora:

Originally posted by Lichdom:

From what I thought someone else said ... each level of DD is also a level in your sorceror so when you get 10 levels in DD and 10 levels in your Soreror class I THINK you are still supposed to be a level 20 sorceror and get that level 20 bonus from your race/heritage/class picks.

For me when I get to level 20 I will be immune to poison and electricity which will be awesome thanks to my demon heritage I picked forget the name exactly but I would expect to still receive that bonus with 10 levels in DD.

Not quite. Earning levels in DD counts for your CASTER level, not your class level. Unfortunately, this does not count for the first level of DD you earn. So if you're a level 5 Sorcerer and a level 7 Dragon Disciple, then you would be a level 11 Caster (5+6=11) instead of a 12th level caster (5+7=12)

Actually
- DD is a 3/4 caster: you don't get the +1 caster lvl at lvl 1,5 and 9
- instead every lvl in DD make you go on with the bloodline, so you can reach the capstone, if you don't teke lvls out of scion, sorcerer, dd


Anyway: 4 lvls in DD are very solid to anythong strenght related, at very least you get +4 str, +3 ac, more spells. Very good for scion imho.
Take lvls more then 4 is a matter of preference, you get wings at lvl 9 that is the only other good boost of the class.

[haplok]

Yeah, from my point of view, DD is a 4 level class.
Later you loose 2 more caster levels for very questionable bonuses.

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by superlovi:

Actually
- DD is a 3/4 caster: you don't get the +1 caster lvl at lvl 1,5 and 9
- instead every lvl in DD make you go on with the bloodline, so you can reach the capstone, if you don't teke lvls out of scion, sorcerer, dd


Anyway: 4 lvls in DD are very solid to anythong strenght related, at very least you get +4 str, +3 ac, more spells. Very good for scion imho.
Take lvls more then 4 is a matter of preference, you get wings at lvl 9 that is the only other good boost of the class.

So, you can still get all your bloodline abilities, even if you invest in DD? That's good, I was hearing people claim that taking DD means you don't get access to the Dragonkin 3 ability granted by sticking with a pure Sorcerer or Scion.

Originally posted by haplok:

Yeah, from my point of view, DD is a 4 level class.
Later you loose 2 more caster levels for very questionable bonuses.

Personally, that doesn't seem like such a bad trade, considering how gutted the spell book is in this game. Maybe getting yourself a beefier caster isn't such a bad idea after all.

[haplok]

Originally posted by GrandMajora:

Originally posted by superlovi:

Actually
- DD is a 3/4 caster: you don't get the +1 caster lvl at lvl 1,5 and 9
- instead every lvl in DD make you go on with the bloodline, so you can reach the capstone, if you don't teke lvls out of scion, sorcerer, dd


Anyway: 4 lvls in DD are very solid to anythong strenght related, at very least you get +4 str, +3 ac, more spells. Very good for scion imho.
Take lvls more then 4 is a matter of preference, you get wings at lvl 9 that is the only other good boost of the class.

So, you can still get all your bloodline abilities, even if you invest in DD? That's good, I was hearing people claim that taking DD means you don't get access to the Dragonkin 3 ability granted by sticking with a pure Sorcerer or Scion.

Scion doesn't get Dragonkind III (or any other Bloodline spells from spell levels above 6). The UI is wrong

Originally posted by haplok:

Yeah, from my point of view, DD is a 4 level class.
Later you loose 2 more caster levels for very questionable bonuses.

Personally, that doesn't seem like such a bad trade, considering how gutted the spell book is in this game. Maybe getting yourself a beefier caster isn't such a bad idea after all.

Only you don't become all that beefier between DD level 5 and 10 (admittedly you do gain more HP) and on a sorc you're actually loosing access to level 9 spells. It's a really bad trade.

[GrandMajora]

Oh, I forgot about BARDS! They can become Dragon Disciples, too!

Originally posted by haplok:

Only you don't become all that beefier between DD level 5 and 10 (admittedly you do gain more HP) and on a sorc you're actually loosing access to level 9 spells. It's a really bad trade.

Yeah, but if I remember right, 9th level spells don't become available until 18. And by that point, you're pretty much at the end of the game, or have so many powerful spells that it hardly makes a difference anymore, unless you just want to flex on dungeon encounters.

[haplok]

To each his own. My main char hit level 20 in Act V - in a full party.