I'm trying to figure out what second level spell to choose for my (soon to be) 7th-level sorcerer. I know I want it to be a combat spell, and I'm leaning towards either acid arrow for its range and lack of resistances, or scorching ray for its high damage.
Do you guys recommend either of those two, or perhaps something altogether different?
This for the sorc from "that thread" that had buffs and CC that everyone yelled at you about?
Yes. I had always intended to expand his spell repertoire.
Burning Arc, Fiery Shuriken, Stone Call, and Flaming Sphere are all spells that get less used less and might be fun to run with. Flaming Sphere and Fiery Shuriken both give the illusion you are working hard at hurting people while you sit back and do just about nothing in an encounter you're not really needed as a bonus.
I like flaming sphere if you find you don't need to do a lot of moving during combat it gives you a nice persistent DOT you can move around without eating up your standard action on your turn.
Fiery Shuriken has better long range usage since you can precast it and then toss shuriken as a swift action while you cast in subsequent rounds. Your bloodline might also be applicable since that could also have synergy well with other spell options.
Fire Breath (Advanced Player's Guide p.221), Fiery Shuriken (Ultimate Combat p.229) or Steal Breath ( Advanced Race Guide p.95) are my suggestions.I thought steal breath was restricted to a certain race. Making it unavailable to most sorcerers?
while the ARG archtypes are limited to race the racial spells are not unless they specifically target an ability from that race.
ARG spells should be treated as most commonly used by member of this race but is by no means limited to them.
from an RP perspective I'd be more inclined to restrict spontaneous casters from choosing racial spell from ARG while e.g. a wizard who can learn new spells I think could very reasonable learn these spells
but RAW anyone can take these spells
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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Depends on your GM I guess.
Page 9 of the Advanced Race Guide says:
Spells: The spells in this section are common to spellcasting members of the race. Sometimes they only target members of the race, but often they are just the race's well guerded secrets; members of other races can learn to cast them with GM permission.
Personally I'd allow it, but that's just me.
Why steal breath? It does so little damage, only has a 1 round duration, and is easy to negate entirely (simply by moving out of range).
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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Why steal breath? It does so little damage, only has a 1 round duration, and is easy to negate entirely (simply by moving out of range).
Good points. I did somehow miss the duration of 1 round (for some reason I thought it was 1 round/level), but my reasoning is that it's something that won't be expected and can take an enemy caster by surprise, negating their effectiveness for at least a round (since they're likely to have lower Fort Saves and so they should fail their save), giving time for melee characters to move in.
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Admonishing Ray isn't a bad choice.
Do Bull's Strength/Bear's Endurance/Cat's Grace count as combat spells?
Flaming Sphere is a pretty fun one, especially since you can use your move action to direct one and your standard action to cast another. It pretty much works as both blasting and crowd control.
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I find Scorching Ray to be enjoyable to blast folks with, depending on your bonus to hit. Touch AC's can still be pretty beefy when your allies are in melee providing cover to your opponent and your only at like +4-6 to hit. It scales up a bit as you level and doesn't feel like a waste to cast on a round where you don't feel like wasting more powerful spell slots.
I'd go with flaming sphere. Reflex is a poor save for most monsters at higher levels due to the dex penalty from size large and above. The sphere can also be a devastating debuff if combined with metamagic - especially with dazing spell. If you want to CC and your group wants you to blast, just do both with the same spell!