Xelran: Sorry for the noob question but what's the main difference between Sage and Sylvan sorc? Aside from the pet. Is sage stronger overall? It sure sounds like it or rather an early vs late game trade?
Let´s start by comparing Sylvan sorcerer and the Arcane sorcerer. Sylvan trades the +2 DC for a pet. The Sage Sorcerer is almost like the Arcane Sorcerer but uses INT instead of CHA. This is significant in that CHA is strictly a better stat than INT.
INT gives you skillpoints. CHA gives you +persuasion (for dazzle or scaled fist monk dip AC, not that a Sorcerer should dip into monk for AC).
Now you might be thinking that the Arcan sorcerer is better since it has +2DC and CHA as the main attribute. You would be right if it was not for the Varnhold DLC that added a +4 profane INT staff. This is significant because it allows an INT based sorcerer to reach a higher attribute bonus compared to a CHA based.
However, the latest dlc introduced new items and the slayer +dc from stealth so the new meta is not settled yet.
Also while a Sage Sorcerer reaches higher dc it also depends on which spells/monsters you´re focusing on. Since Conjuration which has access to the best control spell in the game, Stinking Cloud, targets fortitude (constitution) which also happens to be the lowest save in the later part of the game. For enchantments there is no such luck as it targets Will, which is much higher.
@InEffect please correct me if I´m wrong