11-05-2006, 06:14 AM
Quote:It's been too long since my sorcerer has used maxed cl. What are the pros and cons, and does lvl 9 vs 19 make a big difference in hell/hell ?
It is partly a matter of playing style. I find it interesting that people hesitate to max CL with low AC characters, because low AC characters are more likely to play in a manner that would take advantage of the maxed CL. When you are doing the teleport-chain-teleport chain through hell/church or hell/caves with a tank mage, that gapping will be a pain in the neck. But with an arty mage in hell/hell, the high level CL does not have many cons. One thing to realize is that the CL does not gap until the limit has been reached. This makes it impossible to have a "gap" right next to the character on the initial CL cast. Indeed, the damage in those squares surrounding the character will be more lethal than ever. But hopefully it will never come to this, because as an arty mage you aren't really trying to get up close and personal with the bad guys. Instead you are probably teleporting backwards and up against walls, gaining distance and safety. In doing so, you coincidentally set up the CL to attack in damaging wedges while using the walls to buffer the "wasted" strands (as shown on Moriah's page linked by Griselda).
I like the full octane CL, but it's not for everyone.