Draconic Bloodline is my favorite, both for the RP possibilities, and for survivability (Free, always on Mage Armor and extra hit points). Divine Soul offers a lot of really good both in terms of RP and utility (access to the Cleric Spells and healing). Aberrent Mind is just raw power mixed with tasty, tasty flavor (I know Clockwork Soul is *marginally* better mechanically, but I just can't get into it RP/Lore wise).
Storm Sorcery takes the title for most disappointing. The idea is awesome, but the execution sucks. They could have done so much better with it.
I love Divine Soul. What's not to love about access to Fireball and Inflict Wounds? I had all sorts of fun with my Aberrant Mind sorcerer. The extra spells added utility to the build. Telepathy allowed me to perform all sorts of pranks. i do like Draconic for the added HP. Wild Magic is fun for a lot of people but I don't enjoy putting the party at risk from my own spells. I haven't played the new Lunar but I really want to. Have to wait for my group's next campaign I suppose.
Wild magic is potentially the most fun to play. But you need to not only love the randomness but have a GM that actually triggers it off every once in a while. If they don't it's both boring and leaves you sorely underpowered.
As for power, it depends on how you define 'power'. For example, a Divine Soul twin-casting a Heal is more than capable of turning the tide of any battle; but you're not gonna be killing a lot of people with it. Plus DS sorcs need to figure out how to cram both a sorc and a cleric's spell list into an extremely small (for the number of spells) amount of spells known. Personally I'd say that this is the most powerful OVERALL but requires you to be willing to support your party and basically be a White Mage. While nothing is stopping you from taking the more offensive spells from the cleric list, as a sorc you already have a decent amount of offensive power so adding in more, while it may let you do more damage, isn't giving you a lot more.
Aberrent is fairly niche in it's use. It might be good for flavor stuff/RP purposes, but in terms of power it just lacks the cutting edge it needs. The psionic spells just lack the bite needed to give it a serious edge (though Mind Sliver is useful but you can get that normally). This feels more like an RP subclass than anything.
Clockwork has a lot of potential power and some really useful abilities. It requires you to be resigned to a support role, though less-so than a Divine Soul. Restore Balance alone can be an easy game-changer and save the party from a nasty hit. Bastion of Law is costly (likely too costly) but no one is going to complain about what is effectively some temp HP. Trance of Order is amazingly useful but you need to hit 14 first. Clockwork Cavalcade is amazing as well. A very solid and good sub-class and second only to Divine Soul (and that's debatable) IMO.
Draconic is the most 'bread and butter' origin. There isn't too much to say. It's pretty much exactly what you'd expect and isn't exceptionally good or bad. A nice, safe, choice for beginner sorcs.
Shadow is... honestly feels more like it was meant for people multiclassing into sorc. Something like eyes of the dark works really well with, say, rogues or certain monks, but really isn't that exceptional for a sorc. It's not a bad class but you really need to know what you're doing to get the best milage out of your abilities and a lot of them feel like they were meant to synergize with other classes than be solo sorcs.
Storm Soul is just disappointing. Not as bad as Wild Magic (especially WM with a DM who doesn't trigger) but just... completely underwhelming. It's ultimate ability is amazing but your campaign will likely be over before you get it. Otherwise it just... doesn't have the bite it needs.
I'd tier it like this:
DS Clockwork Shadow (know what you're doing) Aberrent WM (Surges happen) Dragon Shadow (Don't know) Storm WM (No surges)
I think my two favorites are Clockwork Soul and Lunar. They're both very cool and useful, feel very much like playing someone with a natural affinity for magic that can do cool, unique things with it, and the lore for both are great.
Both Divine Soul and Clockwork Soul are great for playing a support-oriented Sorcerer.
Divine Soul has the downside of the limited spells known that most all Sorcerer subclasses have.
Clockwork Soul is my favorite. Being able to cherry-pick the two best/favorite Abjuration and Transmutation spells per spell level up to 5th level slots with the Clockwork Magic feature gives you a stackedspell list.
I played an AM to level 11 and I LOVED IT. It was soo much fun.
I am about to play a CWS because I hear everyone rave about them and...well...it doesn't feel like its going to be as fun. AM gives you a bunch of fun offensive spells (or rather, lets you swap into them) but CWS feels like it gives you all the must-have sorcerer spells instead (shield, levitate, etc). I suppose thats 6 of one and a half dozen of another, but it feels better to get blasty/damage spells for free.
Dissonant Whispers is my favorite spell ever thanks to the AM.
I played an AM to level 11 and I LOVED IT. It was soo much fun.
I am about to play a CWS because I hear everyone rave about them and...well...it doesn't feel like its going to be as fun. AM gives you a bunch of fun offensive spells (or rather, lets you swap into them) but CWS feels like it gives you all the must-have sorcerer spells instead (shield, levitate, etc). I suppose thats 6 of one and a half dozen of another, but it feels better to get blasty/damage spells for free.
Dissonant Whispers is my favorite spell ever thanks to the AM.
If your prefer a more 'blaster' playstyle, then Aberrant Mind is definitely a better choice. Clockwork Soul is more about protection (shield, counterspell, dispel magic, banish, greater restoration, etc) and buffing (aid, fly, haste, polymorph, etc).
If you get all your control and support and defense spells for free from the clockwork soul subclass feature... guess what you can use your normal picks for?
Why would you want that though? I mean, don't get me wrong, damage is nice, but you can only cast 1 spell a turn. Well, 1 spell and 1 cantrip (if you quicken). You got a limited number of spells known as well; so going overboard on damage really hurts your flexibility.
Think of it like a toolbelt. You want a hammer, but you also want a drill, a wrench, a tape measure, etc. You don't need 10 hammers, you need a variety of tools for different situations. At third level you could also have counterspell, dispel magic, enemies abound, haste (invaluable, especially if you twin it), and slow. Not to mention stuff that's more situational like water-walking/breathing (which may or may not be relevnant in your campaign). Do you REALLY need BOTH fireball and, say, Lightning Bolt?
Not saying you should ignore damage entirely; just that you can do a lot better if you vary your spell-list and get a variety of tools.
I'm playing a level 5 clockwork soul sorcerer right now. For his 3rd level spells, he has Counterspell, Lightning bolt, haste, and Thunder step (I did not include the spells that you get from Clockwork magic). The mix of protection/assist spells and attack spells works well in all situations.
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Running a (homebrew) hexcrawl open-world campaign called In Thrall of the Lost, inspired by BotW and Skyrim.
I'm playing a level 5 clockwork soul sorcerer right now. For his 3rd level spells, he has Counterspell, Lightning bolt, haste, and Thunder step (I did not include the spells that you get from Clockwork magic). The mix of protection/assist spells and attack spells works well in all situations.
I'm unhelpfully a fan of most sub-classes, and very much of the opinion that the "best" sub-class is whichever one lets you play as what you want to be, but I'll try to be brief:
Aberrant Mind: A solid added spell list that you can change is excellent to start with, Telepathic Speech is situational but nice. But it's Psionic Sorcery that steals the show on this sub-class; you can convert sorcery points into spells faster and more cheaply than Font of Magic, and get free Subtle Spell when you do-so. For example, to cast a 3rd-level subtle spell you would normally need to use a bonus action to convert 5 sorcery points into a 3rd-level slot, then 1 more for Subtle Spell, with this feature it costs half that and you still have your bonus action for an ongoing spell, or you could even quicken that 3rd-level spell (since Psionic Sorcery isn't a Metamagic) and cast a cantrip as an action. And that's on top of charmed/frightened resistance! Revelations in Flesh and Warping Implosion are both solid as well. Probably the "strongest" sorcerer sub-class in terms of how easy it is to make use of, and despite the "aberrant" flavour it's easily reflavoured into pretty much anything you like.
Clockwork Soul: Same added spell list bonus as Aberrant Mind, with a pretty good mix of default spells. Restore Balance is a nice 1st-level feature (though limited by its uses), and while Bastion of Law is a little underwhelming compared to Psionic Sorcery + Psychic Defences, it's still a pretty good defensive/support feature. Trance of Order and Clockwork Cavalcade are probably my favourite features on this one which is tricky with them coming in late, but it's another solid sub-class all round.
Divine Soul: While it only gets a single added spell, gaining access to the Cleric spell list is a huge boost, as there are a bunch of spells on that list that become incredibly good with the addition of Metamagic; twinned healing word to revive two downed allies at once, quickened bless so you don't lose your entire first turn to bolster the party etc., and that's on top of favoured by the gods (add 2d4 to a failed save or attack) and empowered healing (empowered spell but for healing) which are both solid features. The main problem is that with so many spells to choose from the limited choices hurt even more. Otherworldly Wings is… fine (saves a spell pick on fly I guess), but Unearthly Recovery is excellent.
Draconic Bloodline: This has arguably one of the best first level features; if you add false life and shield you end up with a very durable sorcerer, combined with quickened green flame blade you can hold your own in melee in short bursts. I found the lack of added spells really hurt though, and the sorcerer spell list means some elemental affinities are a lot better than others, but overall the later features are extremely underwhelming. Having to cast a spell of your elemental type to gain resistance is super clunky (if you need the resistance, then the enemy probably isn't going to be bothered by the spell you had to cast), the flight is the same as Otherworldly Wings (fine but kinda "meh") and the inability to turn into a dragon when literally any Bard, Druid, Warlock or Wizard can do-so is just unacceptable. This is why I ended up working with my DM to build a variant sub-class to play in a campaign, which I found a lot more fun to play long-term.
Lunar Sorcery: This is a tricky one, it has the most added spells of any sub-class, but only gets 5 of them at a time and can't swap (as Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul can). The main drawback of this sub-class is that it's just too damned complicated thanks to a messy web of limited uses and conditions based on swapping phases; unless you're playing a single campaign with very regular sessions (once a week minimum) I can't see it being easy to play at all, and for all the complexity the features just don't add that much IMO, and it kind of loses theming amidst all that complexity. Twin sacred flame is nice though (much like twin toll the dead on a death cleric).
Shadow Magic: This is one of my favourites, as every feature is solid and very thematic. While there is some clunkiness that could be refined, it's probably one of the most solid pre-Tasha's Cauldron sub-classes. With an added spell list it would be top tier IMO.
Storm Sorcery: This is another of my favourites, as Tempestuous Magic is a lot of fun (especially as you get a feel for how it can be used to maximum effect), and Heart of the Storm is a really solid feature (the damage might not seem high, but it's free and automatic, and scales pretty well). Combined they give you a very mobile sorcerer that can excel at short range – while it's a risky place for a sorcerer to be, that risk makes it a lot of fun to play. Storm's Fury is good at 14th-level, Wind Soul feels like it could use a little extra sweetener but actually combines really well with other features (even greater mobility reduces the risk of getting in close to cast). Overall it's really solid thematically, but it hurts a bit for the lack of an added spell list to gain access to more lightning/thunder spells; with such a list it'd also be top tier.
Wild Magic: I love wild magic sorcery, but it's not for everyone; before you pick this one you must consult with your DM and group because some people enjoy the randomness and others hate it. My main criticism of Wild Magic is that its core features require the DM to trigger them, because the way it's supposed to work is you should be using Tides of Chaos frequently, and reminding your DM to trigger automatic (no roll) surges so you can get it back again, but that feels like your DM is playing your sub-class for you (and it's yet another thing for them to keep track of). I'd much rather the features were controlled by the player only. Its other main issue are the surge spells cast at specific levels; they need to be replaced with scaling effects to prevent 1st-level fireball wiping the entire party, I'd maybe even allow burning Tides of Chaos to cancel a surge (the trade-off being you're risking a different surge later). It's a sub-class that can be a lot of fun, but it needs a bit of a rethink IMO.
Apologies for the wall of text, as should be evidenced from the number of sub-classes I have released or have in development, it should be clear I really like sorcerer sub-classes. 😂
It's a UA class, but my favorite so far I've played has been Phoenix Sorcery. Every time you roll fire damage on your turn it gains a bonus to your charisma modifier, and every time someone hits you or touches you they take that same damage. You also get an ability at 6th level that lets you blow yourself up if you drop to 0 HP, keeping you at 1 hit point and dealing fire damage to everything around you.
Combine it with something like Elemental Adept and it's an extremely effective damage boost.
Plus, it's just really cool to be able to surround yourself in flames and shed light for a 60 ft radius.
i know its not exactly the best place to post this but i own sources with other sorcerous origins (Clockwork Soul and Aberrant Mind) but when i make a sorcerer i can only choose Draconic Bloodline, despite having access to others in sources.
any help or advice on why this is or how to fix it?
i know its not exactly the best place to post this but i own sources with other sorcerous origins (Clockwork Soul and Aberrant Mind) but when i make a sorcerer i can only choose Draconic Bloodline, despite having access to others in sources.
any help or advice on why this is or how to fix it?
Assuming you are talking about D&DBeyond and own said content on D&Dbeyond, when you make your character make sure all your content is toggled on. That is the first, and most likely, cause of your problem.
i know its not exactly the best place to post this but i own sources with other sorcerous origins (Clockwork Soul and Aberrant Mind) but when i make a sorcerer i can only choose Draconic Bloodline, despite having access to others in sources.
any help or advice on why this is or how to fix it?
Assuming you are talking about D&DBeyond and own said content on D&Dbeyond, when you make your character make sure all your content is toggled on. That is the first, and most likely, cause of your problem.
Ive already checked this but the issue is still happening.
While there may be a “ mechanically best” subclass it’s really about personal style and preferences so no real best or worst. I’m a fan of dragons, storms and psi so those are my favs. Divine soul is interesting but clockwork and wild just turn me off Hemath ally no matter how good you consider them mechanically. I’m waiting for the sorceror 1 D & D UA to see what they do and if they take one of the PHB subclasses without extra spells and give them extra.
While there may be a “ mechanically best” subclass it’s really about personal style and preferences so no real best or worst. I’m a fan of dragons, storms and psi so those are my favs. Divine soul is interesting but clockwork and wild just turn me off Hemath ally no matter how good you consider them mechanically. I’m waiting for the sorceror 1 D & D UA to see what they do and if they take one of the PHB subclasses without extra spells and give them extra.
I disagree with this statement; but the thing is, that while I do feel there is a 'Best' class for sorc, said best class is Divine Soul and requires you to play in a very atypical way. Namely, playing as a support instead of a caster. Because, say, chaining a Mind Sliver and a Mind Whip can be a massive tide turner; but the thing that's good about it isn't the damage in the slightest. Being able to toss out a twinned haste or slow is amazing; but not really amazing for YOU. Your party will be operating FAR more effeciently than before; but you won't be doing stuff like slinging fireballs around all that much.
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What sorcerer subclass is the most fun to play, and are they each best for? Also, is the new Lunar Sorcery subclass any good?
Personally, I love Shadow Magic and Wild Magic, but what else is good?
Running a (homebrew) hexcrawl open-world campaign called In Thrall of the Lost, inspired by BotW and Skyrim.
Draconic Bloodline is my favorite, both for the RP possibilities, and for survivability (Free, always on Mage Armor and extra hit points). Divine Soul offers a lot of really good both in terms of RP and utility (access to the Cleric Spells and healing). Aberrent Mind is just raw power mixed with tasty, tasty flavor (I know Clockwork Soul is *marginally* better mechanically, but I just can't get into it RP/Lore wise).
Storm Sorcery takes the title for most disappointing. The idea is awesome, but the execution sucks. They could have done so much better with it.
I love Divine Soul. What's not to love about access to Fireball and Inflict Wounds? I had all sorts of fun with my Aberrant Mind sorcerer. The extra spells added utility to the build. Telepathy allowed me to perform all sorts of pranks. i do like Draconic for the added HP. Wild Magic is fun for a lot of people but I don't enjoy putting the party at risk from my own spells. I haven't played the new Lunar but I really want to. Have to wait for my group's next campaign I suppose.
Wild magic is potentially the most fun to play. But you need to not only love the randomness but have a GM that actually triggers it off every once in a while. If they don't it's both boring and leaves you sorely underpowered.
As for power, it depends on how you define 'power'. For example, a Divine Soul twin-casting a Heal is more than capable of turning the tide of any battle; but you're not gonna be killing a lot of people with it. Plus DS sorcs need to figure out how to cram both a sorc and a cleric's spell list into an extremely small (for the number of spells) amount of spells known. Personally I'd say that this is the most powerful OVERALL but requires you to be willing to support your party and basically be a White Mage. While nothing is stopping you from taking the more offensive spells from the cleric list, as a sorc you already have a decent amount of offensive power so adding in more, while it may let you do more damage, isn't giving you a lot more.
Aberrent is fairly niche in it's use. It might be good for flavor stuff/RP purposes, but in terms of power it just lacks the cutting edge it needs. The psionic spells just lack the bite needed to give it a serious edge (though Mind Sliver is useful but you can get that normally). This feels more like an RP subclass than anything.
Clockwork has a lot of potential power and some really useful abilities. It requires you to be resigned to a support role, though less-so than a Divine Soul. Restore Balance alone can be an easy game-changer and save the party from a nasty hit. Bastion of Law is costly (likely too costly) but no one is going to complain about what is effectively some temp HP. Trance of Order is amazingly useful but you need to hit 14 first. Clockwork Cavalcade is amazing as well. A very solid and good sub-class and second only to Divine Soul (and that's debatable) IMO.
Draconic is the most 'bread and butter' origin. There isn't too much to say. It's pretty much exactly what you'd expect and isn't exceptionally good or bad. A nice, safe, choice for beginner sorcs.
Shadow is... honestly feels more like it was meant for people multiclassing into sorc. Something like eyes of the dark works really well with, say, rogues or certain monks, but really isn't that exceptional for a sorc. It's not a bad class but you really need to know what you're doing to get the best milage out of your abilities and a lot of them feel like they were meant to synergize with other classes than be solo sorcs.
Storm Soul is just disappointing. Not as bad as Wild Magic (especially WM with a DM who doesn't trigger) but just... completely underwhelming. It's ultimate ability is amazing but your campaign will likely be over before you get it. Otherwise it just... doesn't have the bite it needs.
I'd tier it like this:
DS
Clockwork
Shadow (know what you're doing)
Aberrent
WM (Surges happen)
Dragon
Shadow (Don't know)
Storm
WM (No surges)
I think my two favorites are Clockwork Soul and Lunar. They're both very cool and useful, feel very much like playing someone with a natural affinity for magic that can do cool, unique things with it, and the lore for both are great.
Both Divine Soul and Clockwork Soul are great for playing a support-oriented Sorcerer.
Divine Soul has the downside of the limited spells known that most all Sorcerer subclasses have.
Clockwork Soul is my favorite. Being able to cherry-pick the two best/favorite Abjuration and Transmutation spells per spell level up to 5th level slots with the Clockwork Magic feature gives you a stacked spell list.
I played an AM to level 11 and I LOVED IT. It was soo much fun.
I am about to play a CWS because I hear everyone rave about them and...well...it doesn't feel like its going to be as fun. AM gives you a bunch of fun offensive spells (or rather, lets you swap into them) but CWS feels like it gives you all the must-have sorcerer spells instead (shield, levitate, etc). I suppose thats 6 of one and a half dozen of another, but it feels better to get blasty/damage spells for free.
Dissonant Whispers is my favorite spell ever thanks to the AM.
If your prefer a more 'blaster' playstyle, then Aberrant Mind is definitely a better choice. Clockwork Soul is more about protection (shield, counterspell, dispel magic, banish, greater restoration, etc) and buffing (aid, fly, haste, polymorph, etc).
Been loving Shadowtouched. Both for practical and roleplay elements.
If you get all your control and support and defense spells for free from the clockwork soul subclass feature... guess what you can use your normal picks for?
Correct. Fireball.
I got quotes!
Why would you want that though? I mean, don't get me wrong, damage is nice, but you can only cast 1 spell a turn. Well, 1 spell and 1 cantrip (if you quicken). You got a limited number of spells known as well; so going overboard on damage really hurts your flexibility.
Think of it like a toolbelt. You want a hammer, but you also want a drill, a wrench, a tape measure, etc. You don't need 10 hammers, you need a variety of tools for different situations. At third level you could also have counterspell, dispel magic, enemies abound, haste (invaluable, especially if you twin it), and slow. Not to mention stuff that's more situational like water-walking/breathing (which may or may not be relevnant in your campaign). Do you REALLY need BOTH fireball and, say, Lightning Bolt?
Not saying you should ignore damage entirely; just that you can do a lot better if you vary your spell-list and get a variety of tools.
I'm playing a level 5 clockwork soul sorcerer right now. For his 3rd level spells, he has Counterspell, Lightning bolt, haste, and Thunder step (I did not include the spells that you get from Clockwork magic). The mix of protection/assist spells and attack spells works well in all situations.
Running a (homebrew) hexcrawl open-world campaign called In Thrall of the Lost, inspired by BotW and Skyrim.
Yup. That's a solid mix.
I'm unhelpfully a fan of most sub-classes, and very much of the opinion that the "best" sub-class is whichever one lets you play as what you want to be, but I'll try to be brief:
Apologies for the wall of text, as should be evidenced from the number of sub-classes I have released or have in development, it should be clear I really like sorcerer sub-classes. 😂
Characters: Bullette, Chortle, Dracarys Noir, Edward Merryspell, Habard Ashery, Legion, Peregrine
My Homebrew: Feats | Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Races
Guides: Creating Sub-Races Using Trait Options
WIP (feedback needed): Blood Mage, Chromatic Sorcerers, Summoner, Trickster Domain, Unlucky, Way of the Daoist (Drunken Master), Weapon Smith
Please don't reply to my posts unless you've read what they actually say.
It's a UA class, but my favorite so far I've played has been Phoenix Sorcery. Every time you roll fire damage on your turn it gains a bonus to your charisma modifier, and every time someone hits you or touches you they take that same damage. You also get an ability at 6th level that lets you blow yourself up if you drop to 0 HP, keeping you at 1 hit point and dealing fire damage to everything around you.
Combine it with something like Elemental Adept and it's an extremely effective damage boost.
Plus, it's just really cool to be able to surround yourself in flames and shed light for a 60 ft radius.
i know its not exactly the best place to post this but i own sources with other sorcerous origins (Clockwork Soul and Aberrant Mind) but when i make a sorcerer i can only choose Draconic Bloodline, despite having access to others in sources.
any help or advice on why this is or how to fix it?
Assuming you are talking about D&DBeyond and own said content on D&Dbeyond, when you make your character make sure all your content is toggled on. That is the first, and most likely, cause of your problem.
Ive already checked this but the issue is still happening.
While there may be a “ mechanically best” subclass it’s really about personal style and preferences so no real best or worst. I’m a fan of dragons, storms and psi so those are my favs. Divine soul is interesting but clockwork and wild just turn me off Hemath ally no matter how good you consider them mechanically. I’m waiting for the sorceror 1 D & D UA to see what they do and if they take one of the PHB subclasses without extra spells and give them extra.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
I disagree with this statement; but the thing is, that while I do feel there is a 'Best' class for sorc, said best class is Divine Soul and requires you to play in a very atypical way. Namely, playing as a support instead of a caster. Because, say, chaining a Mind Sliver and a Mind Whip can be a massive tide turner; but the thing that's good about it isn't the damage in the slightest. Being able to toss out a twinned haste or slow is amazing; but not really amazing for YOU. Your party will be operating FAR more effeciently than before; but you won't be doing stuff like slinging fireballs around all that much.