hi
i've just downloaded the game and want to create a human/sorcerer
since sorcerer's main attribute is charisma and persuade highly related to it
but persuade is not a class skill, so takes 2 point to raise one
ok cutting the chatter :), what skills must a sorcerer have?
all help will be much appreciated
best regards

I would also recommend Tumble for pretty much any character without armor. Even putting 1 point into it teaches your character how to use it. With the way the AI sometimes runs around like a drunken sailor, the enemy can get crazy stupid amounts of attacks of opportunity against you. And every 5 ranks of Tumble gives you +1 AC!

Lore can be very useful to you, allowing you to identify magic items you find as you find them, and saving money that you would otherwise be handing to merchants.

Either Tumble, or the Dodge/Mobility/Spring attack feats, can be very important in melee situations. Usually though, as a sorceror, you should be making sure you stay out of melee. Plus, the Original Campaign will take you to about level 17 or 18, so you will be halfway through before you start seeing some of the benefits of Tumble (you will be 7th level by the time you get your Tumble up to 5 ranks for the +1 AC, 17th level by the time you get it to 10 ranks for the +2 AC.)

However, if you have excess points, putting at least 1 in a skill that requires training (such as Tumble, or stealthy skills or perception skills) allows you to get the benefits of items that boost those skills, if you find such items. That is worth consideration.

Consider your familiar carefully too. There is really no command to tell your henchman to walk ahead of you, so you will want to rely on your familiar to scout (via possession). My favorite is pixie- its like having a top-notch rogue that you can control.

Consider your feats carefully too. Combat Casting is really a must-have, and I feel like Spell Penetration and Greater Spell Penetration are too. Expertise and Improved Expertise can be nice (you need at least Int 13)- +5 AC/-5 attack with Expertise, +10 AC/-10 attack with Improved Expertise. You might find it serving you better than Defensive Casting mode.

Whoa, never even thought to get them as a spellcaster but now that you said it, the advantages are stupidly obvious!

Toss on the shield spell, the dodge feat, and a good dex modifier and that should carry you to the level 12-15 range. I can't see you keeping it up after that, though, so probably not the best selection if you're taking this character into HotU. For lower levels, though, it looks like a real winner.

thank you guys very much for the posts!
now i can go with sorcerer with more ease :)

What's the deal about spellcraft btw?
Concentration I get and wizard scan learn spells with spellcraft, but what's the practical use for a sorcerer?

I don't really play spellcasters...

If you want persuade, just save up points and then take 10 levels in Arcane Scholar of Candlekeep. That prestige class is incredibly amazing with their improved metamagic feats, plus Persuade is a Class Skill.

I chose to go with a low +Int build so Persuade, Spellcraft and Concentration is it for me. Even on Very Difficult, monsters never get close enough to melee me so Tumble just ain't worth it for me. :p

The benefit with Sorcerers is that there are few ways to "go wrong", since they are so damn versatile.

There's a couple things with Spellcraft:

1) every 5 ranks in Spellcraft (this includes item/INT bonuses) gives the character a +1 to saves vs spells. Obviously, this a benefit to any class.

2) if memory serves, being able to identify spells as they're being cast at the character is vital if you want to counterspell. Spellcraft increases your chance to identify spells being cast at you. ASoC is a NWN2 prestige class, not NWN1.

It's a prerequisite for most epic spellcaster feats.

It's definitely more useful in PnP than in a CRPG, which may be shaping my opinion of it, but at very least it's something you'll regret neglecting if you go epic.

When creating a pure arcane spellcaster, there are not a lot of great choices for class skills anyway. Spellcraft is not necessarily vital, but far better in comparison to a lot of the cross-class skills that will progress only at half rate.

Even if one were creating a non-Human sorceror, one would have 2 skill points a level. So the choices would be Concentration and ______? The second is probably a choice between Spellcraft, Lore, and Heal. Either of the three can be good choices.

Lore may help most at lower levels, where saving 100 gp to have a merchant identify an item can be a big deal (though the Identify spell will take care of most of the less valuable magic items, and the truly frugal can hire a bard henchman long enough to identify items then kick her out of the party when it's time to go adventuring again). Lore is used to solve a few puzzles too, which is nice.

The Heal skill, and a stack of healing kits, can make any character a reasonably good healing cleric. Low to mid-levels, that can be a big deal. It only takes a boost of a few points to Heal to be able to cure poisons and diseases with healing kits. If one's spell arsenal is exhausted, there are many situations in which healing standing behind the tank and healing him is more valuable than firing a crossbow and hoping it hits. At the higher levels, even with a high Heal skill and the best healing kits, it probably doesn't heal enough in one round to make a big difference- particularly when Heal potions become easy to afford.

The saving throw bonus from Spellcraft is a benefit at all levels. It takes quite a few points to consistently identify cast spells, so that benefit is realized more toward the mid-levels. At the epic levels, as Davin pointed out, Spellcraft is a prerequisite for many epic feats (whereas Lore and Heal are not prerequisites for anything an epic arcane caster may want).

Spellcraft is a good skill itself, but I think it's value goes up for arcane casters in large part due to the fact that there aren't many great alternatives for spending the skill points. Definitely there is more to get out of a maximum Spellcraft skill than half-maximum of most of the cross-class skills.

I think the value in Tumble for NWN is that enemies are up close and personal, even if you try to keep your distance. I figure you're guaranteed to get within melee range at least a few times, so having 1 point in Tumble is the difference between a roll of 0 to 0, and a roll of 2 to 21, plus or minus.