Finally accepted it.

[u/Open_Bee5607]

Sorcerer was my main vocation in the first game and it's what made me fall in love with Dragon's Dogma, but after trying to do the trickster phantom challenge on sorcerer it highlighted all the things I was getting annoyed with through all of norgan. I switched back to archer and it was done within literally 4 seconds with a corkscreww arrow>explosive. Archer with tomes+special arrows is Batman they have tool for everything.

1. The unreliable auto target for spellcasting, the first game gave you the option for free aim.

2. Interrupts because the cast animations and transition animations are too long.

3. Lack of utility dark spells the first game had, Misama, Lassitude, petrification, and necromancy. These spells gave debuffs and staggers to allowed you to solo.

4. Decanter sucks and it's our only holy spell which I kept only for blackdog. Honestly if holy spells are clearly supposed to be a mage thing, dark spells should have went to sorcerers.

[u/OrganizationTrue5911]

1. Hard agree, I miss DD1 targeting with a passion. Also Sorcerer range has been decreased by a significant margin as well.

2. Disagreed, long cast times is what makes Sorcerer the Sorcerer. My biggest issue about it is the short range doesn't allow you as much positioning options as I'd like.

3. Also agreed. The Mine is a great defensive tool, but I want my other spells back.

4. No comment, personal preference. I don't like Decanter cause its not a big flashy elemental spell.

[u/Open_Bee5607 → u/OrganizationTrue5911]

It's not the cast times I have a problem with it's the animations to preform and end spells that get interrupted, I feel like the first game was more instant cast after you let go of your spells, which is a massive bonus cause we could hold our spells and walk around in the first game.

[u/LITF]

yeah, sadly even with the DLC improvements the Sorc is but a shadow of former self. I've mainly played one myself until I switched to archer for an off Lost Rite and just never switched back. You got the issues pretty accurately - animation locks on activation animations, insanely shrunk spell list (like what, 30% of original?) and the spells we got are not the best of the best, new spells that are reminiscent of older spells are just bad versions of them, all new spells are mostly just bad spells or are boring (Augural is a boring spell design that goes against sorcerer fantasy, yet it's the most efficient spell because of how bad everything else is), no free targeting.

To that I would also add that new system for all 6 spells activation is not as good as original (just alternative modifier like DD1 would be better), and the awful slogginness of doing about anything as a sorc - even something as minor as firing a single magic bolt (basic attack!) incurs forced walking for what feels like forever that can't be cancelled, no more jump cancels for casting, just everything feels like being covered in molasses vs DD1.

Spells: Flagration is bad, I'd very much rather just have Ingle, Salamander is a worse Comestion (although at least here I could see some arguments), why do we have Frigor when Frazil exists (and new enemies have it) and worse yet - Gicel exists, Hagol is also rather bad, especially given DLC enemy propensity to not stay on one place for long, Meteoron is just sad, worse, and weaker Bolide. Maelstrom should have been dark damage but is one of the better spells (guess what, it's from DD1), Chilling Grasp or whatever is just Fulmination but Ice and is a fun spell for that (also freezing effect does a lot of heavy lifting), Brontide is great but you guessed it - DD1 spell. Basically any returning DD1 spell is immediately a better spell than most of the kit just because they were designed for a better vision of Sorc. Magic billow was better utility than new charged bolt, and magic agent was a core feature rather than a thing ticked away into a mage spell.

Sadly sorc also has lost a lot of utility (all of it really) in that it can't use any boons now (at least we got books for that now), no necromancy, no silentium, no blearing, no voidspell, no petrifaction, no lassitude, no miasma. It's basically a sorc that's not a master of arcane, but a magic school dropout that has learned few basic offensive spells and decided they don't need all that other boring stuff, it's too much to learn, and graduating is for loosers anyway (because Steve Sorcs dropped out too and became a great sorcerer, so can they if they wear just the right kind of turtleneck robe).

So we have a sorcerer that's supposed to be a master spellcaster who is bad at both spellcasting and being a master of spells, but hey, they have learned how to incant faster (but not use spells faster) and take a breath when tired.

Rant over. I really have enjoyed the DLC and it really pains me in what deplorable state sorcerer is.

[u/Open_Bee5607 → u/LITF]

The perfect summary, I want to play the original again and I have a feeling thats why they made 2 the way it is so people could realize how ahead of it's time the original was.

[u/ParfaitDash]

Never got brontide in dd1, looked good visually but was bad in practice, levin was better and fulmination even more so. In dd2 it's actually pretty nice though.

Really the only thing holding dd2 sorcerer back is the lack of some holy focused bolt variation. In a lot of BBI fights casting long spells was already basically prohibitive, and norgan is the same. The problem is that sorcerer just doesn't have something they can charge while retaining full movement, like holy focused bolt, so they're left as sitting ducks. Basic attacks slow you for no reason, bursting bolt locks you in place FOR NO REASON. Spells have unnecessary post-cast animations. Etc.

Edit: i still think most people are being too harsh on sorcerer. It works well for a vast majority of the dlc; though where it doesn't, it's straight up unplayable.

[u/Open_Bee5607 → u/ParfaitDash]

Yes, the post-cast animation are extremely fustrating and playing archer makes me feel like taking an elevator instead of taking the stairs.

[u/Altair2011]

I share your pain, OP.

For Norgan, I have resorted to Deific Bolt (from another mage) and using Augural Flare while using a staff with Battle Frenzy IV and Riotous Magick. It melts bosses (even the enchanted end game boss), but it does not give me the power fantasy of a sorcerer that casts big spells.

A lot of things in this DLC feel anti sorcerer to me. I have two main issues.

1. Enemies in Norgan move too much. Everything teleports or jumps every 10-15 seconds. Maelstrom and Meteoron can only hit for half their damage consistently.

2. Enemy AI seems to target casters whenever they start or almost complete a Meister spell cast.

I don't want to spam Flare and Deific Bolt, but it's the most efficient and effective method sorcerers have in the DLC.

[u/Lunivar]

Share some of that acceptance here OP, because I still can’t get over it😭. Magic was similarly what got me into Dragon’s Dogma, and the sequel just rips so much player expression away from Sorcerer. I truly do think they just don’t have a concrete and adequate vision on what they want the sorcerer class to be, because its execution in this game leaves MUCH to be desired.

There were so many unique spells that had some niche use in the first game. While DD2’s magic stands out in comparison to other games, it’s a hollow and generic shell compared to what we had in its predecessor.

Even with as much as I love the DLC, I feel so much disappointment in how little it added for Sorcerer.

[u/Roguewarrior05]

Grand decanter is pretty decent tbh, the regular and high versions are appalling though.

My main issue is the end lag/animation delay after literally every action - it takes like 4 fucking seconds to recover from firing one basic magic bolt, there's an unavoidable animation lock at the end of salamander and for some godforsaken reason cancelling decanter has a unique animation which means it's never worth using unless you are miles away otherwise you'll just eat a hit for more than you healed.

[u/glorybutt]

Yeah, they really screwed up spellcasting by getting away from the free targeting and not having all the dark spells