Chain Lightning

[GhastMaster]

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 ?

[Griselda]

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 ?

I don't like to max it, because with the gaps in the high level CL, I could potentially be missing monsters that are right next to me. That's more inportant than being able to kill monsters in 1 hit that are on the other side of the level, IMO.

Moriah feels differently, though, and has a pictorial guide to high level CL here. Of course, the tactics he describes could be used for any level Chain.

[Alamara]

I use level 19, and don't find that I have too much trouble even with low AC. Although it does gap often, the gaps are at not near your character, they are out a bit, when the expansion has happened. If you position yourself correctly, there's never a huge issue with the gapping.

[Nystul]

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.

[Griselda]

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.

Thanks for the info. It's been years since I've cast a high level CL.:)

[skana]

Its all a matter of position, line em up along a wall or retreat thru a doorway,they dont stand a chance.

[GhastMaster]

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'm using an arty and I'm noticing my cl doesn't kill very well in even nightmare. Granted I'm lvl 37. I think the gapping happens a little more than I'd like in low lvl cl. I don't remember having big problems with high cl back in the day. I will try out high llv cl for a little while. If I do not like it I can always bring it down with enchanted shrines. Thanks for all the replies! Thanks for the link Griselda. It helped a lot.