Overview
This is a wargear guide to the Last Stand mode for DOW2 Retribution, covering all the wargear for every character, and some suggested builds for each of them. In this part, the Chaos Sorcerer will be covered.
Introduction
Welcome to the Wargear and Build guide for the Chaos Sorcerer
The twisted and corrupt Chaos Sorcerer is one of the weakest heroes in the game, but is also one of the most powerful. His vast array of spells and weapons make it easy to control and dominate the battlefield, (mainly FIRE) and with the right items he isn’t half bad with a sword either.
And of course, he has the most OP ability in the entire game. He is able to copy almost any enemy on the map, and create a evil doppelganger that fights for you. You can literally use your enemies against your enemies, and it is very satisfying to see the most powerful and annoying foes beating the crap out of anything on the map.
Finally, these are my own opinions of the Sorcerer, and what I think works best. I am quite happy to adjust and change this guide to include other builds and ideas, so if you think you have a gosu/ninja/juggernaut build that i have ignored, please let me know and I may add it.
And before we move on, I would like to thank Chibi Assassin for giving me the idea for these guides, and the snazzy looking layout that comes with it.
Let’s see what the Sorcerer has to play around with, shall we?
Wargear of the Sorcerer (Pt1)
Starting Equipment – One-handed melee weapon, 13.1 dps
Grants Ability: Doomblast (10 energy: Emit a radial blast of psychic power, knocking back and damaging all nearby enemies)
One of the best melee weapons the Sorcerer has, if not the best, this allows you to cast doomblasts whenever you want. These babies not only do damage to everything around you, but also push back any foe that can be. Also, this sets everything you hit on fire, doing a little dot. The best melee weapon by far for the Sorcerer.
Starting Equipment – Two-handed ranged weapon, 9.8 dps
Grants ability: Warpfire (15 energy: Trigger a line of fiery detonations, damaging all enemy infantry and vehicles)
The first staff you get, and a great one for starting out. This allows you to fire off a line of explosions, which will usually instakill most unarmoured infantry, and do a fair amount of damage to everything else.
Starting equipment – Armor Rating: 58
Grants Trait: Combat Master (+40% Melee and Ranged damage) Grants Minion Trait: Combat Master (+40% Melee and Ranged damage) Grants ability: Daemonic Doppelganger (15 energy: Summons a Daemonic minion who takes the form of a targeted enemy. The daemon cannot impersonate enemy champions)
The first armour you get for the Sorcerer, and not a bad one by any means. Gives you a little extra damage, but also allows you to clone any non-champion unit that you see. This will then fight for you, until either it/they all die, or you clone another unit. This is the strongest ability in the game, so make sure you use it.
Starting equipment – +25 Energy (if Summoner) +50 Energy (if Narcissistic) +25 Doppelganger Energy
A very simple item, gives you more energy, moreso if you have a narcissistic armour on. Good early on, since the Sorcerer is a energy relient hero.
Starting equipment – Grants Ability: Consume (Destroy a Daemonic Doppelganger in order to restore the Sorcerer’s health)
Since in most cases the doppelgangers are going to be more powerful and useful than the Sorcerer himself, you dont generally want to eat them just so your squishy body can stay alive longer. Good for when u dont have much else.
Unlocked Level 2 – Grants ability: Orb of Blood (10 energy: Project an orb of unholy power. Allies within the orb regain health whenever they attack, healing for 50% of the damage they cause)
A great little item to have, this allows both you and your allies to heal every time they attack. Good for both fast and slower attacking heroes, as you get healed depending on how much damage you do.
Unlocked Level 3 – Armor Rating: 62, +0.5 Energy Regeneration
Grants Trait: Narcissistic (All minion traits and bonuses apply to the Sorcerer instead)
Your first narcissistic piece of armour, this one allows you to not only get every bonus that would have applied to your doppelgangers, but also an increase in energy regeneration. A very decent piece of armour.
Unlocked Level 4 – Grants Ability: Doombolt (15 energy: Fire lethal psychic bolts at the targeted area)
Not to be confused with doomblast, doombolts allows the Sorcerer to fire off multiple orbs that fly kinda in the direction you clicked. It is known for being horribly inaccurate, so the best way to use this is to get really close to a big group of enemies, click right in front of you, and watch everything die. Good fun.
Unlocked Level 5 – Commander Item. Grants Trait: Greater Summoning (Doppelganger ability may now target enemy champions) +125 Health (Narcissistic only)
This turns your doppelganger ability from being pretty good to absolutely amazing. You can now clone anything on the map, excluding the super heavy units on Anvil. Want a Carnifex? Sure, you can have one. Predator Tank? Why not. Another copy of any hero that spawns on wave 16 in Colosseum? No problem. Also, extra health when using narcissistic is also pretty good.
Unlocked Level 6 – One-handed melee weapon, 12.5 dps
Grants Ability: Curse of Tzeentch (20 energy: Place a curse on an enemy, damaging that unit over time and preventing health regeneration. The unit will explode if it perishes under the effects of the curse)
A weapon that looks good on paper, but in practice doesnt do much. The curse will eaisly kill any weaker enemy its placed on, but doesnt do too much to larger enemies. Also, for the energy cost, there are better pieces of wargear.
Unlocked Level 7 – Grants Trait: Greater Sorcery (Warpfire now causes knockback. Doomblast deals additional damage. Curse of Tzeentch recharges Sorcerer Energy. Let the Galaxy Burn fires an additional fireball. Warp burns the ground upon arrival)
An intresting item, this improves every weapon ability the Sorcerer has. Some bonuses, like the Warp and Let the Galaxy Burn, are amazing, but all do improve anything you can do.
Unlocked Level 8 – Grants Minion Trait: Reactive Strike (Chance when the Doppelganger is hit by a melee attack to trigger a reactive Doomblast. Greater Sorcery and Master Sorcery traits enhance this effect) A Narcissistic Sorcerer gains the same chance to emit this Doomblast when he is attacked
One of the best accessories for your dopplegangers, this just randomly emits doomblasts whenever either your clone or yourself (narcissistic) is atacked. Does lots of damage and is generally a must have for doppleganger Sorcerers.
Unlocked Level 9 – Armor Rating: 72, +50 Health, +50 Doppelganger health, +25 Energy, +25 Doppelganger Energy. Grants Ability: Daemonic Doppelganger (15 energy: Summons a Daemonic minion who takes the form of a targeted enemy. The daemon cannot impersonate enemy champions)
A straight improvement on the starting doppelganger armour, this gives both you and your clone more health and energy. Much more important than the extra damage, since you dont rely on the basic weapon attacks for damage anyway.
Unlocked Level 10 – Commander Item. Grants Trait: Chaos Aura (Sporadic effect deals damage to enemies)
One of the worst items the Sorcerer has, this randomly spawns fissures that damage enemies. Unfortunately they do not very much damage, and almost never appear where you want them too. Either of the other Commander Items are a much better choice.
Wargear of the Sorcerer (Pt2)
Unlocked Level 11 – Grants Ability: Orb of Vengeance (10 energy: Project an orb of unholy power. Enemies attacking any of your allies within the orb suffer 150% of the damage they inflict upon their target)
Another good orb, this will deal damage to every enemy that attacks you or your allies standing in the orb’s radius. Can very quickly kill most enemies, however be wary of the fact it doesn’t reduce any of the damage done to you.
Unlocked Level 12 – Two-handed weapon, 9.8 dps
Grants Ability: Warp (7 energy: Teleport to target location)
A clear upgrade to the starting staff, this one allows you to teleport around the map, for only 7 energy. A massive help to sorcerers, since they are generally very squishy and having this means they can escape if needed. Also, with the Greater Sigil, you will burn the ground when u warp to a loctation, which does quite a lot of damage to whatever is standing there.
Unlocked Level 13 – Armor Rating: 88.
Grants Traits: Fearless (Immune to suppression), Unshakable (Makes the wearer immune to knockback), Narcissistic (All minion traits and bonuses apply to the Sorcerer instead)
The second piece of narcissistic armour, and the only piece of wargear that grants Fearless and Unshakable, this is the go-to armour for any narcissistic Sorcerer. With the highest armour rating out of anything, this is the best when you want to get down and dirty.
Unlocked Level 14 – Grants Minion Trait: Death Throes (A Warp vortex erupts upon the minion’s death, knocking back and damaging nearby enemies) A Narcissistic Sorcerer causes such an explosion whenever he is incapacitated
Another bad piece of wargear, this creates a small explosion on the death of your clone. Like I said before, you will almost always be wanting to keep your doppelganger alive, so this shouldn’t be a choice.
Unlocked Level 15 – Two-handed ranged weapon
Grants Ability: Let The Galaxy Burn! (20 energy: Loose an orb of empyreal flame a target. Orbs detonate on impact leaving smoldering residue that can continue to damage enemies)
The most broken aoe attack in the game currently, Let the Galaxy Burn will absolutely destroy almost anything it touches. With massive range, massive aoe, and enough damage to burn through tank armour, this is the best staff the Sorcerer has by far. I would also recommend taking a Sigil with this, as 2 orbs of flame are the best.
Unlocked Level 16 – Grants Ability: Orb of Unholy Might (10 energy: Project an orb of unholy power. All allies within the orb knock down targets with all standard attacks)
A very team dependent item, this orb grants knockdown to any attack made while standing in it. Most of the time your allies would have knockback on their weapons, or they are a melee hero and really dont want to knockback enemies.
Unlocked Level 17 – Armor Rating: 4
Grants Ability: Daemonic Doppelganger (15 energy: Summons a Daemonic minion who takes the form of a targeted enemy). Grants Trait and Minion Trait: Deathless (When suffering a fatal blow, the Sorcerer/Doppelganger instead regains full Health and Energy and deals double damage for a short period. This effect cannot recur for 30 seconds)
The best armour for the Sorcerer, despite having no armour rating at all, this allows you, and your clone, to revive on full heath when going down. While this is nice for you, it is amazing for your clone, who will quite happily keep destroying everything with the bonus double damage after reviving.
Unlocked Level 18 – Grants Trait: Master Sorcery (Warpfire range doubled. Doomblast briefly increases unit’s armor. Curse of Tzeentch heals the Sorcerer. Let the Galaxy Burn fires an additional fireball. Warp burns the ground upon departure)
Another Sigil, this one acts a little differently to the others. This one is much better for doomblast, as the extra armour is invaluable to keeping either yourself or your clone alive.
Unlocked Level 19 – Grants Minion Traits: Combat Vigor (Whenever the Doppelganger makes a standard attack, it regains 2 Energy), Zealous (Whenever the Doppelganger makes a standard attack, it regains Health equal to 100% of the damage caused). For Narcissistic Sorcerers the recharge effects applies to the Sorcerer’s own attacks
Another great piece of wargear, this gives a nice health and energy bonus to the Sorcerer or his clone whenever they attack. Really great for fast attacking clones, as they recover health pretty quickly with this equiped.
Unlocked Level 20 – Commander Item. Grants Trait: Aura of Power (Sorcerer and nearby allies gain a bonus of 30% to melee and ranged damage)
And for your final item, you get this little icon. Not only does it increase your damage, but also everybody elses damage around you. If you are running doppelganger, the Icon of Summoning is still a better choice, but for narcissistic Sorcerers, this can be a really good choice when you want to dish out some damage.
Wargear of the Sorcerer (Pt3)
Actually had to have a part 3 for the Sorcerer, because his descriptions are soooo long. Bloody wizards and their wordy spells and confusing magic grumble grumble grumble…
The Sorcerer, like every other hero, has 2 pieces of achievement wargear the can unlock. Lets have a looksie at what they can do.
Unlocked by achievement “There can be only one” (Defeat your clones on Wave 16 of the Bloodied Colosseum as the Chaos Sorcerer) – Two-handed melee weapon, 21.4 dps
Grants Traits: Hell Attacks (Attacks with the Hell Blade use 5 energy), Bonus Damage (Attacks with the Hell Blade cause extra damage)
Another weapon that looks good on paper, this sword uses 5 energy per swing, to deal massive damage to whatever it its. Unfrortunately, you cant choose when to use the energy, so it always procs, no matter what you are swinging at. This means u very quickly run out of energy, even with the regen armour on. There are much better swords to use.
Unlocked by achievement “Magic Missiler” (Consume 5,000 energy from using abilities as the Chaos Sorcerer)
Grants Trait: Accursed Idol (Damage received by the Sorcerer causes the attacker to take damage)
I honestly havent played much with this item. In the few times I have tried it, it doesn’t really seem to do that much. Would be best for a narissistic Sorcerer, as you would be taking more damage, and therefore be dealing more damage with this.
And of course, by sacrificing some money to the Chaos Gods…I mean Sega, you can get some new DLC Wargear to play around with.
Two-handed melee weapon, 5.0 dps
Grants Trait: Fate Weaver (Melee attacks have a 30% chance to trigger Fate Weaver. The next attack from the Sorcerer deals immense damage)
This is a very intresting staff to use. On its normal melee attacks, it does almost no damage, but does attack relatively fast. However, there is a 30% chance, on your next attack, to do massive damage to the target you are hitting and some aoe damage around you. This would be pretty cool, except it relies on chance. Sometimes it procs 3 times in a row, sometimes it doesnt for 10 attacks and u get swarmed and killed because u have no other damage. Fun to play around with, but not a reliable weapon.
Grants Trait: Dark Fortification (Adds 150 Armor Rating to the Sorcerer for 10 seconds when struck in melee)
This looks very good on paper, but once you try it out, its actually not that great. For one thing, there are plenty of ranged enemies in the game, and this only happens when you are hit in melee. The other bigger thing is that the attack that procs this is unmitigated, meaning that nice 150 armour is nice and all, but if u only have half health left, its not going to save you. When using this, I find its very good for the earlier waves, but then you just die either to getting swarmed or from ranged enemies after about wave 10.
So, now you have seen all the terrible and powerful abilites gifted upon you by the Gods, lets see how they can be used to dominate your enemies!
Sorcerer Builds
Now how to combine the best gear with each other so you can sit back and watch your enemies fall before you.
- Staff of Tzeentch
- Robes of Unholy Fortitude/Vestments of Power Undivided
- Sigil of Greater Sorcery
- Tome of Doom
- Daemonic Gift of Retaliation/Sigil of Master Sorcery
- Icon of Summoning
This build is simple and fun to use, and one of the earliest effective playstyles you can use. The centerpiece of this is the warp staff, this allows you to teleport around the map to either jump into or away from danger. Combinded with the Greater Sorcery Sigil, which burns the ground every time you warp somewhere, you can take out unarmoured enemies very quickly by stacking the dot. Also, you have Doombolts, which you can teleport in and fire at point blank range to take out anything that your fire doesn’t kill! You can use either armour for this build, both extra energy and regen work well, but having the doppleganger running around taking fire is more useful in my opinion.
- Staff of Daemonic Flame
- Robes of the Deathless
- Sigil of Master Sorcery
- Daemonic Gift of Sustenance
- Daemonic Gift of Retaliation
- Icon of Summoning
One of the most fun builds for the Sorcerer, this allows you to not only fill the entire map with great balls of fire, but also turns your doppleganger into an invincible, undying god of death. If you clone the right things they will just never, ever die, and happily kill the entire wave for you. The combination of the doomblasts procing and giving them extra armour from Master Sorcery, and the health/energy regen from the Gift of Retaliation, means the they can take quite a beating until they die. You may die many times, but your clone is the real hero here.
Best clones on Colessum are: The Force Commander at wave 4, a Wraithlord at wave 12 if your Force Commander has died, Raveners on wave 14, the best clone on wave 16, and then the big commanders if your clone dies on the later waves.
On Anvil, the best clone is the Lictor on wave 4, then the Seer Council on wave 11, and then grab a bloodletter (actually a bloodcrusher, thanks Relic) on wave 12, and you will be set for the rest of the game. These guys, with this build, never ever die, and just in case they do, there are more available on wave 18.
- Sword of Spite
- Armour of Might Undivided
- Sigil of Master Sorcery
- Daemonic Gift of Sustenance
- Sigil of Greater Sorcery
- Icon of Summoning/Icon of Pain
This is one of the only melee builds that consistently works for the Sorcerer, and is also pretty fun to play. The simple idea of this is that you spam doomblasts. All the time. In and out of combat. This not only does damage and knockbacks most enemies, thanks to the Greater Sorcery Sigil, you get incresed armour every time you do it, which actally saves you from all but the heaviest hits. As you get to the later waves, you may want to watch your energy consumption, as you (unfortunately) cannot have a non-stop stream of doomblasts with your energy. You can take either commander item to supplement this build, as both the extra health or extra damage help you either tank longer or kill faster.
Conclusion
So there you go. A complete rundown on the Chaos Sorcerer and how to use his abilites to really dominate the battlefield. Please let me know if there are any cool or intresting builds you use, and if they are good enough I may add them into it.
Now go and kill the xenos and loyalist scum that dare stand before the power of Choas Undivided and the true rulers of the galaxy!
