How would you consider choosing spells for your Sorcerer? Do you put emphasis on the theme of the build, variety of spell effects or do you perhaps choose 2-3 areas of focus and augment them with metamagic?
This topic has started to fascinate me lately as I can't seem to make up my mind on how progress my spell selection once my PC starts to gain lvl's and will have to make some hard choices. I've started a Tiefling Divine Soul x/Grave Cleric 1 build, currently at lvl 3 so I haven't gotten any metamagic yet. The theme is basically the duality of fire that destroys and fire that does positive things. I chose Grave Cleric for the Circle of Mortality feature along with armour proficiencies and a d8 hit die(that I rolled an 8 for towards max hp, thank god I don't have to be super squishy at early levels), also for some spell selection versatility, I rolled stats well so I have 16 WIS(which boosts my number of prepared spells and makes my selected Cleric spells get a nice +3 bonus) and 17 CHA with aim at taking the Flames of Phlegestos feat. The general idea was to take some Cleric spells and use Distant and Twinned metamagic with them simply because the spells offer a lot for a single sorcery point when used with metamagic, and with the Sorcerer side take some fire spells and the odd utility spell. For damaging spells I currently have Fire Bolt, Sacred Flame, Guiding Bolt and Burning Hands, Burning Hands simply for AoE at lower levels and guaranteed damage that can be upcast since I don't have any 2nd lvl spells yet.
From this point onwards is where my struggles begin as I'm having a hard time deciding what way to go moving forward. Should I lean into the single target spells and look to twin them before I take Fireball later on? My mind is set on having both Healing word and Cure Wounds, along with Lesser Restoration and Revivify, because they combine well with Circle of mortality and Distant and Twinned metamagics. I'm considering swapping Burning Hands with Inflict Wounds for some serious Twinned damage if surrounded or Distant upcast combined with Favoured by the Gods to make a big hit more likely, but having an Aoe, guaranteed damage option is really useful to have in my back pocket and there isn't really any legitimate options until Fireball.
I would love to hear your thoughts on how to select spells and considerations when deciding.
Let me be clear there is no right answer here. Twinned is always a good option, especially with divine soul. Get two people up with a healing word. Make a cure wounds twice as good.
but it really depends on your character. Mine is a a blaster and an empowering sorcerer. I went for the damage. I also went for spells which make my allies better (haste, invisibility). But you need to keep specific niches. You CANNOT spread thin on a sorcerer. I would say pick two themes and go with those and lean into them HARD. It sounds like one theme you have is healing. That’s good. And distant and twinned work well with them.
it feels like you have your second picked already which is damage. Guiding bolt is great. Works well with twinned and if you ever go quickened you can guiding bolt into a quickened cantrip. I wouldn’t worry about having aoe or single target. You can fairly safely dip into both with a single aoe spell you just upgrade.
I would just see if there are fun things you can do with the spells you pick and your metamagic.
Thanks for answering, I come back to the same thing when pondering about it. That I need to stick to what I am and try to make the most of it with metamagic.
Yeah, I thought of fire damage and keeping things from dying/breaking (I took the Mending cantrip to keep in line with this. My PC kept breaking things until he figured out how to fix broken things with Mending and began to fix people's shoes for a modest living.). That's why I went with Grave Cleric. A Distant Cure Wounds upcast to lvl 3 on a downed party member is 28(3*8+4) points of healing. Distant cast Lesser Restoration and Revivify makes it easier to get those spells off sooner, and the sooner is usually the better with those spells. Twinning is also useful for the same spells and single target offensive spells.
Moving forward I am gonna take Fireball, thinking of keeping Burning Hands until then, and maybe look to get Hold Person or something if my spells known allow for it.
A fun combo I've thought of is getting a Bless going, either from me or the actual Cleric (a Tempest Cleric), and twinning Guiding Bolt.
If I didn't want to lean into the fire theme I would definitely go for the setup of abusing Inflict Wounds with Distant and Favoured by the Gods for some potentially huge damage when upcast.
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How would you consider choosing spells for your Sorcerer? Do you put emphasis on the theme of the build, variety of spell effects or do you perhaps choose 2-3 areas of focus and augment them with metamagic?
This topic has started to fascinate me lately as I can't seem to make up my mind on how progress my spell selection once my PC starts to gain lvl's and will have to make some hard choices. I've started a Tiefling Divine Soul x/Grave Cleric 1 build, currently at lvl 3 so I haven't gotten any metamagic yet. The theme is basically the duality of fire that destroys and fire that does positive things. I chose Grave Cleric for the Circle of Mortality feature along with armour proficiencies and a d8 hit die(that I rolled an 8 for towards max hp, thank god I don't have to be super squishy at early levels), also for some spell selection versatility, I rolled stats well so I have 16 WIS(which boosts my number of prepared spells and makes my selected Cleric spells get a nice +3 bonus) and 17 CHA with aim at taking the Flames of Phlegestos feat. The general idea was to take some Cleric spells and use Distant and Twinned metamagic with them simply because the spells offer a lot for a single sorcery point when used with metamagic, and with the Sorcerer side take some fire spells and the odd utility spell. For damaging spells I currently have Fire Bolt, Sacred Flame, Guiding Bolt and Burning Hands, Burning Hands simply for AoE at lower levels and guaranteed damage that can be upcast since I don't have any 2nd lvl spells yet.
From this point onwards is where my struggles begin as I'm having a hard time deciding what way to go moving forward. Should I lean into the single target spells and look to twin them before I take Fireball later on? My mind is set on having both Healing word and Cure Wounds, along with Lesser Restoration and Revivify, because they combine well with Circle of mortality and Distant and Twinned metamagics. I'm considering swapping Burning Hands with Inflict Wounds for some serious Twinned damage if surrounded or Distant upcast combined with Favoured by the Gods to make a big hit more likely, but having an Aoe, guaranteed damage option is really useful to have in my back pocket and there isn't really any legitimate options until Fireball.
I would love to hear your thoughts on how to select spells and considerations when deciding.
Let me be clear there is no right answer here. Twinned is always a good option, especially with divine soul. Get two people up with a healing word. Make a cure wounds twice as good.
but it really depends on your character. Mine is a a blaster and an empowering sorcerer. I went for the damage. I also went for spells which make my allies better (haste, invisibility). But you need to keep specific niches. You CANNOT spread thin on a sorcerer. I would say pick two themes and go with those and lean into them HARD. It sounds like one theme you have is healing. That’s good. And distant and twinned work well with them.
it feels like you have your second picked already which is damage. Guiding bolt is great. Works well with twinned and if you ever go quickened you can guiding bolt into a quickened cantrip. I wouldn’t worry about having aoe or single target. You can fairly safely dip into both with a single aoe spell you just upgrade.
I would just see if there are fun things you can do with the spells you pick and your metamagic.
Thanks for answering, I come back to the same thing when pondering about it. That I need to stick to what I am and try to make the most of it with metamagic.
Yeah, I thought of fire damage and keeping things from dying/breaking (I took the Mending cantrip to keep in line with this. My PC kept breaking things until he figured out how to fix broken things with Mending and began to fix people's shoes for a modest living.). That's why I went with Grave Cleric. A Distant Cure Wounds upcast to lvl 3 on a downed party member is 28(3*8+4) points of healing. Distant cast Lesser Restoration and Revivify makes it easier to get those spells off sooner, and the sooner is usually the better with those spells. Twinning is also useful for the same spells and single target offensive spells.
Moving forward I am gonna take Fireball, thinking of keeping Burning Hands until then, and maybe look to get Hold Person or something if my spells known allow for it.
A fun combo I've thought of is getting a Bless going, either from me or the actual Cleric (a Tempest Cleric), and twinning Guiding Bolt.
If I didn't want to lean into the fire theme I would definitely go for the setup of abusing Inflict Wounds with Distant and Favoured by the Gods for some potentially huge damage when upcast.