How to Control the Storm Within: A Guide to the Sorcerer
So, I decided to try my hand at making some character optimization guides, this one being the third. I’ll mostly be focusing on optimization and not roleplay, so there’s always more room to add flavor to your character. Now, let’s cut right to the punch/knife/arrow.
This thread will be updated every so often. I won't have all of this ready right away, so I'll be adding to it in individual posts.
Throughout this guide, I'll be using colors to denote how useful a certain ability/race etc. is. Here's the scale:
Gold is a must have, at least in my opinion.
Green is a very good ability, but could maybe be replaced with something else.
Blue is a solid choice, but there are perhaps better ones.
Black is just average.
Red is most likely useless, or almost useless.
Gray is something that is rarely useful, but can be surprisingly good in some situations.
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Sorcerer is a full spellcasting class that almost exclusively uses Charisma. They are very similar to wizards in many ways, but have a few key differences. Basically, wizards can cast a larger variety of spells and learn more spells to add to the overall pool of spells they can prepare, while sorcerers generally can manipulate their spells in different ways, and can cast them more often. Lore-wise, sorcerers are able to cast spells due to harnessing the powers of their bloodline, whereas wizards learn their spells from centuries of careful study.
Pros:
Insane flexibility in spellcasting due solely to Metamagic. Metamagic is pretty much by far the most powerful trait that directly manipulates spellcasting of any class. You have several options you can choose from, including casting full action spells as bonus actions, making certain spells more powerful by upping the damage or making it harder to save successfully, or even using single target spells on two targets or excluding certain creatures from AoE effects.
A great variety of spells, both offensive and defensive. Really only rivaled by the wizard spell list, which definitely reigns supreme in sheer volume of spells.
Amazing multiclass options, with Sorcerer/Warlock and Sorcerer/Paladin being some of the best combinations possible out of all the classes.
More potential spell slots than any other class, due to sorcery points.
Cons:
Less versatility in spells than wizards.
Poor defenses, with a d6 for hit dice and no armor proficiency. Draconic Ancestor is somewhat of an exception, with Natural Armor and a carbon copy of a Hill Dwarf's Dwarven Resilience.
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
As a sorcerer, you will almost exclusively be using Charisma. That being said, you can't just dump all the others.
Strength: Unless you plan on multiclassing into Pally, this is a dump stat for you. You really don't need anything for melee attacks.
Dexterity: While you don't need Dex for weapon fighting, you do want probably at least a +2 bonus to improve your otherwise horrible AC. Even with a +2 Dex, you'll only be able to reach an AC of 12 without mage armor or a Draconic Ancestor.
Constitution: While you desperately need hit points, you also want Con for concentration saves. Sorcerer is actually the only full spellcasting class that has proficiency in Con saving throws, so that will make your life a little easier on that end.
Intelligence: Sorcerers will almost never need Intelligence, unless you're the only person in your party who can have proficiency in Arcana.
Wisdom: Too many important saving throws ride on Wisdom to make this a dump stat. You still don't need it to be one of your highest.
Charisma: This is what you will use for literally everything.
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
As a sorcerer, you really want a race with Charisma, and hopefully either Dex or Con. Having a Spellcasting feature or other features that mesh nicely with sorcerer mechanics is also appreciated.
PH Races:
Dragonborn: Dragonborn is an interesting one. While Breath Weapon and a damage resistance is always nice, said resistance makes Draconic Ancestor's Elemental Affinity less useful. Strength also isn't the best thing to have a bonus to. Overall, a solid but not amazing choice.
Mountain Dwarf: While Con is nice, no charisma and strength is not. However, medium armor proficiency mildly makes up for this, making it not the worst choice.
Hill Dwarf: While hill dwarfs don't have Charisma either, they do have Dwarven Resilience instead of medium armor prof. Still not the best choice.
Dark Elf (Drow): Definitely not a bad choice. Some nice spells, as well as both Dex and Charisma make drow a very solid choice for a sorcerer. The only thing holding this back is Sunlight Sensitivity, but that can be worked around with relative ease.
High Elf: There is no reason to go high elf when you could be a drow and have Charisma.
Wood Elf: There is no reason to go wood elf when you could be a drow and have Charisma.
Forest Gnome: While gnome abilities are decent, no Charisma and Int are not.
Rock Gnome: Pretty much the same as forest gnome, but with Con instead of Dex.
Half-Elf: A very good choice for a sorcerer. +2 Charisma is great, and you can put the other two points in Dex and Con. You're probably better off with one of the variants, but normal half-elf certainly isn't a bad choice.
Lightfoot Halfling: Another good choice. Charisma and Dex are good, and Lucky is always nice.
Stout Halfling: Still not bad, but no charisma means there's basically no reason you should ever choose this over Lightfoot.
Half-Orc: Not bad for survivability, and becomes much better if you plan on going Sorcadin, but there are many better options otherwise.
Human: You don't need many different ability scores to be good, so Variant Human is probably the better choice (as always). Still not necessarily a bad choice.
Variant Human: Very good. It would be better, but you don't need as many feats as a sorcerer as some other builds might. You could still use something like Tough, Elemental Adept or maybe Spell Sniper even.
Tiefling: A very good choice. Tiefling spells mesh well with sorcerer, although +1 Int isn't great.
EEPC Races:
Aarakocra: While flight is great, no Charisma is not.
Air Genasi: While Con and Dex are good, no Charisma is not.
Earth Genasi: A bonus to Con and your dump stat. Nope.
Fire Genasi: Has probably the best spells out of all the genasi, but still isn't really worth it.
Water Genasi: Pretty much the same as the rest.
Deep Gnome: Basically the same as Forest Gnome, but slightly better abilities.
Goliath: You aren't a barbarian.
VgtM Races:
Fallen Aasimar: If you're planning on going Pally as well, not a bad choice. Otherwise, still not a bad choice.
Protector Aasimar: Definitely the worst of the Aasimar. Wisdom is decent, but you don't need a bonus to it.
Scourge Aasimar: Probably the best of the Aasimar. Constitution and Charisma are always good, as are Aasimar abilities in general.
Bugbear: Nope. No Charisma is almost never good, and this isn't an exception.
Firbolg: You are not a druid.
Goblin: Not too bad a choice, but still no Charisma.
Hobgoblin: Meh. Definitely not worth it.
Kenku: You aren't a rogue.
Kobold: You aren't a rogue. Not that you care about Strength, but you do care about Charisma. Still a decentish set of abilities.
Lizardfolk: You aren't a druid/cleric/someone who uses Wisdom.
Orc: While you may not care about Int, you care about Charisma. And you should probably be in the back lines, not the front.
Tabaxi: Actually pretty decent. Dex and Charisma is always nice, and Feline Agility is a nice movement buff if you need to get out fast.
Triton: Not bad. You don't care about Strength, but Con and Charisma are good, and fog cloud isn't bad. Not quite as good as Tabaxi.
Yuan-Ti: Very good, if your DM allows it. Magic Resistance is ludicrous, and poison immunity is situational but great. You don't care about Int, but the rest of the package is more than enough.
SCAG Races:
Aquatic Half-Elf: Charisma and two of your choice is great, swimming speed is too situational to be useful unless you're in an aquatic campaign.
Drow Half-Elf: A great choice. Good spells, good ASIs, and Fey Ancestry.
High Half-Elf: Meh. You don't need a cantrip based on Int, and you don't need weapons. Not bad by any means, just worse than any other half-elf.
Wood Half-Elf: More speed? Sure. Stealth? Meh . . . Not bad, but not as good as Drow Half-Elf.
Ghostwise Halfling: You want a halfling with no Charisma bonus and weird telepathy? Didn't think so.
Feral Tiefling: Normal tiefling is just straight up better.
MToF Races:
Githyanki: You don't care about Strength, but you do care about Charisma. I s'pose medium armor isn't bad, but it's not necessary.
Githzerai: Still no Charisma and worse abilities for a sorcerer.
Baalzebul Tiefling: Normal tiefling with worse spells. There is no reason to ever choose this variant.
Dispater Tiefling: Meh. Normal tiefling has more damage oriented spells, but these spells aren't bad. Dex is nice, making this overall not a bad option.
Fierna Tiefling: You don't care about Wisdom, but these spells are nice if you're going a little more of the enemy control path (which is a somewhat odd choice for a sorcerer, but not necessarily a bad one). Suggestion is especially potent.
Glasya Tiefling: Better for rogues, but still not a bad option for a stealthier sorcerer. Dex is always nice.
Levistus Tiefling: Imo, the best tiefling for sorcerer. Con is always great (Levistus is the only tiefling that gives a bonus to Con) and all the spells are good. I could see this definitely being gold with a multiclass in Warlock (for Devil's Sight).
Mammon Tiefling: Completely useless spells and a bonus to Int. Much better options exist everywhere.
Mephistopheles Tiefling: Not a bad choice. Pretty good spells, although Int is meh. Probably not as good as the other blue tieflings.
Zariel Tiefling: Strength is almost always a dump stat, thereby making bonuses to it and smite spells pretty much useless.
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Sorcerer's class features are really what make them stand out as one of the most versatile casters of all the classes, mostly due to Metamagic. They may not have quite the same control over spells or volume of spells as a wizard, but they can cast the ones they do have with greater flexibility and more often.
Base Class Features:
Hit Points
Not good. d6s are the lowest you can get, and having less hit points is never good. That being said, you can counteract this somewhat with either a multiclass into a melee class, or the Draconic Bloodline subclass (+1 hit point every level).
Proficiencies
Kind of a mixed bag. Constitution saving throws are without a doubt the most important saving throw for a spellcaster, and while Charisma saving throws are less common, the ones you do run into tend to be deadly if you fail (i.e. the one I can think of off the top of my head is banishment). Your skills are all great for you'll most likely need (social/magic analytical), but your armor/weapon profs aren't great. Having no armor proficiencies is more of a big deal at level 1 when you'll have less spell slots to spare for something like mage armor (again, unless you're a Draconic Bloodline sorcerer), and you won't have too much need of weapons.
Starting Equipment Recommendations
I'd go with the light crossbow, but nothing else really matters what you choose. You won't be using much of any of these things except for your focus.
Spellcasting
I rate this slightly lower than a Wizard or Cleric's spellcasting trait, simply because it's based off spells known instead of prepared. That being said, it's still a normal full spellcasting trait.
Sorcerous Origin
See next post.
Font of Magic
This . . .this is gold. Here you have your first unique sorcerer trait, and it's a doozy especially at higher levels. For now the only use you'll have for sorcery points is getting a single level one spell slot, but at level 2 that's a huge deal. And it only gets better from here.
Metamagic
A sorcerer's true defining trait. These will allow you to have better versatility than pretty much any other spellcaster, at least with the limited amount of spells you know. I'll put a spoiler ranking/recommending options below this one.
Ability Score Improvement
Standard ASI. Ranked black because it's not fighter or rogue.
Sorcerous Restoration
I mean, it's not bad. But at level 20 you're probably not too concerned about sorcery points anyways, and you'll often multiclass before you ever get to this. All in all not really a necessary capstone.
Metamagic options:
Careful Spell
Definitely a high tier option, especially for AoE control spells like web and [/spell]hypnotic pattern[/spell]. Less useful for damage AoEs like fireball where they still take partial damage, but still good.
Distant Spell
Situational, but useful. Still, there are definitely better options. Only thing I could maybe see this being useful for is high damage close range spells like inflict wounds, but that spell is only available to Divine Soul sorcerers anyways.
Empowered Spell
Maybe not the best option, but definitely a solid choice overall. This option becomes less useful if you take a feat like Elemental Affinity.
Extended Spell
Also not bad, but not the best. The main issue is that most spells have a duration of 1 minute, and in most combat situations you'll either lose concentration or just finish the combat before it runs out.
Heightened Spell
A very good option. The best spells to combine this with are save or suck spells like confusion, hold person/monster, dominate person/monster, disintegrate etc. It's not as useful for spells where they'll still do partial damage on a success, especially since this is one of the more expensive options.
Quickened Spell
A near necessity for any sorcerer. This can work with almost any build, you just have to remember that you can only cast one 1st level spell or higher each turn. One of my personal favorite uses for this is with a melee multiclass build, where you can attack twice with Extra Attack as your action and then bonus action cast booming blade or green-flame blade for even more damage.
Subtle Spell
Yeah, there's really not much use for this. Way too situational, although it could maybe be good in a few specific roleplaying/negotiating situations.
Twinned Spell
Another great option, especially for powerful buffs like haste or extremely strong single target damage spells like disintegrate. Also good with things like hold person.
Overall, at least at level 1 I'd say you can't go wrong with either Quickened and Twinned or Quickened and Careful. Between the two it mostly depends on the build you're going for and personal preference.
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Sorcerers have a wide variety of options for subclasses, with many powerful features and unique properties. They also have some of the best roleplaying flavor out of any of the classes, in my opinion. You really can't go wrong with any one of these.
Note: I will not be going over UA subclasses in this guide.
Divine Soul:
Type: Healing/Support/Survival
A very interesting subclass that basically turns you into a cleric. Definitely the best way to go if you want to fill a more supportive/healer role in the party. That being said, if you want to be a more traditional sorcerer this is definitely not the best class for you.
Divine Magic
Having access to a greater variety of spells is never a bad thing, and some cleric spells are very useful indeed. This is especially important to keep in mind if you go full healer, as sorcerers don't have access to any healing spells in their own spell list. While you might not be quite as potent a healer as a Life Domain cleric, you'll get close enough that it doesn't really matter with the added utility you bring. The second part of this trait is great as well, learning an extra spell is especially good for characters like sorcerers and bards who have access to fewer spells than preparation based spellcasters. What alignment you pick is completely up to you, and can be either more mechanical or more roleplay. I will say you can't go wrong with bless or cure wounds. I'm not going to go over what cleric spells you could choose in this guide, but if I ever make a cleric guide I'll link to it here, as the recommendations would be mostly the same.
Favored by the Gods
Very useful, although limited use (obviously). The nice thing about this is it doesn't cost any sort of action.
Empowered Healing
Very very useful. This is what puts you on par (healing wise, at least) with a Life Domain or Grave Domain cleric. Note that unlike Empowered Spell, the number of dice you can reroll does not depend on your Charisma modifier—you can just always reroll however many you want. The fact that you can trigger it for allies as well is very nice as well, especially considering the low cost.
Otherworldly Wings
Having more mobility is never a bad thing, and a flying speed is the most useful kind of speed to have. Makes it easier to stay away from any hard hitting melee enemies you might come across, and lets you ignore difficult terrain pretty much on demand.
Unearthly Recovery
Yeah, uh . . .recovering half your hit points as a bonus action is never going to be a bad thing. Never.
Draconic Bloodline:
Type: Survivability/Damage
One of the all around best options that you can't really go wrong with. It boasts the greatest survivability out of any of the subclasses (except for Divine Souls once they get Unearthly Recovery, obviously) even at level 1, and has a nice mix of damage and utility for the rest of its abilities.
DragonAncestor
Not really much meaning at level 1, but it is important for later skills (as it says). Not a bad social skill, especially in a campaign like Hoard of the Dragon Queen or something where you know you'll be seeing a lot of dragons. Still too situational to get a higher rating, and this is really more of a flavor ability than anything.
Draconic Resilience
This increases your hit points by 1 per level and gives you free mage armor. Since most sorcerers are going to want that running at all times to avoid getting hit by everything all the time, this is basically a free spell slot every long rest. Very very good ability, especially at level 1.
Elemental Affinity
Very good, but not on the same level as Draconic Resilience. That being said, 1 sorcery point for an hour of damage resistance is very cheap, and there are plenty of good spells to add your Charisma modifier to (I believe this also works with green-flame blade if you're using a melee build with red/gold dragon ancestry).
DragonWings
Having more mobility is never a bad thing, and a flying speed is the most useful kind of speed to have. Makes it easier to stay away from any hard hitting melee enemies you might come across, and lets you ignore difficult terrain pretty much on demand. (Totally didn't copy paste this from Divine Soul)
Draconic Presence
Not bad, but there are plenty of higher level monsters that have immunity to both of these conditions. Do note that (unless I'm reading it wrong) if they fail the first save, they don't get to resave at all. Also not sure if you can cast a concentration spell while using this ability (I would guess not, but it's not terribly clear in the description).
The only sorcerer class that on its own is part of the darkness abuser club, normally a warlock exclusive. This is in my opinion one of the strongest subclasses out of any of them, and definitely the strongest overall mechanically of all the Sorcerer ones.
Eyes of the Dark
Darkvision is always useful, especially that large of a range and if you're a human. The main kicker for this spell comes at level 3, though. Basically, you can cast a level two spell (darkness) with a level one spell slot or two sorcery points. Not only that, you can see through it while no one else can. In other words, you permanently have advantage on all attacks and your enemies permanently have disadvantage. The only downside to this is if your darkness orb gets in your team's way. If you have a warlock with devil's sight in your party, this becomes even more ridiculous.
Strength of the Grave
A half-orc's Relentless Endurance, but with more qualifications and a saving throw. This would be better if Relentless Endurance wasn't strictly better, but then again you probably aren't a half-orc sorcerer. And if you are, you get both options. At least you have Charisma saving throw proficiency.
Ah, yes. Summon a CR 1 monster as a bonus action for 3 sorcery points, and it'll attack a single target while giving that target disadvantage against any of your spell's saving throws, and having more hit points than usual, and knowing its target's location at all times. Oh, and it can walk through walls. Is there any reason this wouldn't be a good thing?
Shadow Walk
Free 120 foot teleportation as long as you're in dim light. Given that most dungeons aren't exactly known for being well lit, you can basically be wherever you want on a battlefield every single turn. For a bonus action. And you can move afterwards.
Umbral Form
For 6 sorcery points, near universal resistance and the ability to walk through walls is a pretty sweet deal. Only reason this isn't rated higher is it's just not quite as good as the rest of your subclass abilities.
Storm Sorcery:
Type: Damage, Mobility
Not a bad choice, especially for naval campaigns. It struggles at lower levels, however, especially compared with Draconic Ancestry or Shadow Magic.
Wind Speaker
If you're in a campaign with a lot of elementals, less useless. If you're not, pretty much completely useless.
Tempestuous Magic
Not a bad panic option, but note that it has to be on your turn (i.e. shield can't trigger it). Also note you can move before you cast your spell or after, allowing for some sneaky positioning or just GTFOing after casting a shorter ranged spell.
Heart of the Storm
Resistance to two types of damage, both fairly common, and occasionally a nice AoE damage effect on top of it? Nothing not to like here.
Storm Guide
Mostly just a flavor ability, but could maybe be useful in a nautical campaign. Still very situational.
Storm's Fury
Considering how squishy you are, this is more of a good panic option than an offensive ability, as you should probably never be in the front line. That being said, it's a very good panic option.
Wind Soul
Very good maneuverability, and immunity to two semi-common damage types is great. Also the only sorcerer subclass ability that grants you flying speed that can be shared. Still a little disappointing for a level 18 capstone ability.
Wild Magic:
Type: Damage?, Chaos Incarnate
Even though this subclass isn't necessarily the most potent mechanically, it has some of the best roleplay potential of any of them. Not only that, the potential exists for the sheer hilarious chaos that happens when you accidentally drop a fireball in the middle of your party. Been there, done that. At level 2. Didn't go well.
Wild Magic Surge
This can be one of the most fun and unique abilities in the entire game, but it really all depends on how your DM treats it. If he/she forgets about it, some of the great options like "you turn into a potted plant until the start of your next turn" will never see the light of day.
Tides of Chaos
Free advantage is always nice, and if you have a nice DM you can abuse this.
Bend Luck
Bless or bane as a reaction for sorcery points. Even better when you realize most similar abilities in other classes can only be used once per long rest or short rest.
Controlled Chaos
Again, mostly dependent on your DM. If he/she has you roll frequently, this is very nice to have. If not, it's useless.
Spell Bombardment
Very good, especially for a once per turn feature. Even better if you have something that allows you to reroll in the first place, like empowered spell or Elemental Adept.
Now, onwards to spells. This could take a while . . .
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Choosing spells can be a very difficult and confusing task, especially if you're newer to D&D or just don't play spellcasters very frequently. I'll go over every single sorcerer spell, rate it, and talk about what it's purpose is.
This part will be for cantrips, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level spells.
Cantrips:
As a sorcerer, you have more cantrips early on than most spellcasters, and some very potent ones as well. These will be your bread and butter at lower levels, and there are many good options for both damage and utility. I'll put the tooltip after each spell for easy reference.
Acid Splash. One of very few AoO cantrips, and decent damage. Downsides are the medium range, and relatively low damage for a cantrip. Still not a bad option, especially in a campaign with a lot of trash mobs. There are better pure damage spells, however. (Acid Splash)
Blade Ward. Not as bad as it is for many other classes, as you can use quickened spell on it as an emergency. Fairly decent panic option, but shouldn't be your first choice. This also only works against weapon attacks, which depending on your DM's ruling might not work against natural weapons like claws. (Blade Ward)
Booming Blade. If you're using a melee build of any sort, this is a must have. Not only does it buff your melee attack damage at later levels if you don't take Extra Attack from another class, it keeps enemies trapped in melee with you and can be quickened. If you take the War Caster feat, you can also use this as an AoO, triggering the move damage immediately. A must have for any melee build, but DO NOT PRIORITIZE if you aren't a melee fighter and are squishy. It's not bad as it can keep them from chasing you, but it's probably not worth it. (Booming Blade)
Chill Touch. A very good ranged damage cantrip. Necrotic is a good damage type to have, it has good range, decent damage, and prevents healing. You can't go wrong with choosing this. (Chill Touch)
Control Flames. This is literally just a worse version of prestidigitation or minor illusion. You can't even start fires with it, just control them. You should never take this spell. (Control Flames)
Create Bonfire. Could maybe be interesting combined with booming blade to keep them in it, but it's probably not worth your concentration. You're probably just better off taking fire bolt. (Create Bonfire)
Dancing Lights. Meh. A lot of races have darkvision, and this doesn't even shed bright light. If you need light, just take light. (Dancing Lights)
Fire Bolt. The highest potential damage of any of your ranged cantrips, and great range as well. The only reason this isn't gold and a must take is that it's fire damage, which is very commonly resisted. This would probably become gold if you go fully into it with gold/red Draconic Ancestor and Elemental Adept (fire). I'd say at level 1, every sorcerer should have either this or chill touch. (Fire Bolt)
Friends. I've seen some people use this, but in my opinion it's not really worth it. In many social situations where this would be warranted you aren't going to want the target to go hostile afterwards, and you could get advantage just from one of your companions helping you. (Friends)
Frostbite. Very good if you're struggling to hit higher AC opponents, and with a great debuff. The only issue with this spell is the lower damage and the fact that many monsters have very high Constitution saving throw bonuses. (Frostbite)
Green-Flame Blade. Booming blade's slightly more situational cousin. A very good option for melee builds, although I'd recommend taking booming blade first. Not worth it for non-melee sorcerers at all. (Green-Flame Blade)
Gust. Yeah, no thank you. Same story as control flames. There are other spells that can do its job much better. (Gust)
Infestation. Not bad, but strictly worse than frostbite. The same saving throw and damage die for a more commonly resisted damage type and a worse debuff. (Infestation)
Light. Situational, but very good at its job. I'd let the party cleric take it if you have one and you need some source of light. (Light)
Lightning Lure. Not worth it at all. Low range, low damage, situational damage, etc. If you need close range spells the other SCAG spells are strictly better, or even shocking grasp. (Lightning Lure)
Mage Hand. If you want a utility spell, this is a good choice. Nice for triggering traps from a safe distance, or even just for roleplay purposes. I'd say for utility you might be slightly better off with minor illusion or prestidigitation, though. (Mage Hand)
Mending. Very situational, and you're probably better off letting your party cleric take it if you have one and need it. (Mending)
Message. Not bad for stealthy situations and distant communication, but still pretty situational. (Message)
Minor Illusion. Probably the best utility cantrip in most situations. You just have so many options, the only thing it can't do is physically move objects. (Minor Illusion)
MoldEarth. Only slightly less useless than control flames or gust, and that's not saying much. Only reason it's not complete garbage is that distant terrain creation, but it's still very situational and probably not worth it. (Mold Earth)
Poison Spray. The highest damage out of any sorcerer cantrips, but low range and a common saving throw. You're probably better off sticking with shocking grasp for melee range. (Poison Spray)
Prestidigitation. Very good utility spell. It's not quite as versatile as minor illusion and it has slightly less range, but it can create actual physical objects, can't be seen through with Investigation, and lasts longer.
Ray of Frost. Not a bad ranged damage cantrip, but there are better options with higher range. The debuff isn't too bad. (Ray of Frost)
Shape Water. Very situational, and mostly useless. You could potentially cross a body of water with this or something, but you could only have two blocks of ice at a time. (Shape Water)
Shocking Grasp. The best melee cantrip (well, almost only) that uses your spellcasting modifier. A very good option even for non-melee sorcerers, as you can run away afterwards (if it hits) without fear of triggering an AoO. The advantage against metal armor is just the icing on the cake. (Shocking Grasp)
Sword Burst. Eh, not bad. Force damage is pretty much the best possible type of damage, but it's low range and fairly low damage as well. The AoE is nice, but overall there are probably better options. (Sword Burst)
True Strike. There is no reason to ever take this. You can just attack once each turn and have the same probability of hitting at least once, while having a chance to do more damage. To top it all off, this requires concentration. (True Strike)
1st Level:
Many 1st level spells will remain useful even at higher levels, and there are some very important spells here. Don't discount them just because they might not do much damage.
Absorb Elements. A nice damage mitigation, especially against things that can't be blocked by shield. Not as good for non-melee sorcerers, as you don't get to take advantage of the extra damage. Overall given the small amount of spells you can choose as a sorcerer, there are probably better options. (Absorb Elements)
Burning Hands. This and thunderwave are your AoE spells. They aren't great, but they get the job done. Again though, there are probably better options. (Burning Hands)
Catapult. Very nice damage and range, but completely useless if the target makes their save. Still not a bad option at all. (Catapult)
Chaos Bolt. A very fun spell, especially for Wild Magic sorcerers. Probably not the best option, unfortunately. (Chaos Bolt)
Charm Person. If you're playing the part of a bard, not a bad choice. If you're not, let the bard do his job and stick to yours. (Charm Person)
Chromatic Orb. Not bad, especially with the damage type options. The material component is kind of a pain, however, and there are probably better options. (Chromatic Orb)
Color Spray. Not bad, but you're probably better off with sleep. (Color Spray)
Comprehend Languages. Very situational, and since you learn spells instead of preparing them it's not worth it for the ritual version either. (Comprehend Languages)
Detect Magic. Not too bad, but again the ritual property is less useful to you. If you really need this, see if the party wizard can take it before you do. (Detect Magic)
Earth Tremor. Eh, not really worth it. Thunderwave is probably a better bet for this kind of spell. (Earth Tremor)
Expeditious Retreat. Not bad especially at lower levels if you don't have anything better to be concentrating on, but probably not the best option. (Expeditious Retreat)
Mage Armor. Those better options I was talking about? This is it. This is a near necessity for lower level sorcerers who haven't multiclassed, otherwise your AC is stuck at at most a measly 13. Given your horrid hit points, this is a huge problem. However, if you are a Draconic Ancestry sorcerer DO NOT TAKE THIS EVER. It does the same thing as your level 1 class ability, and they don't stack and the ability is always there. (Mage Armor)
Magic Missile. I can't ever give this spell a bad rating, it's just too useful (and a true classic). Have a pesky heavily armored warrior buzzing around at low HP and you just can't seem to hit him? Magic missile. Want to make the wizard burn his spell slots on shield so he doesn't have to make a concentration save? Magic missile. Have something that's resistant to almost every type of damage? Well, chances are it's not resistant to Magic Missile™. All that being said, it is rather low damage even considering the auto hit. (Magic Missile)
Ray of Sickness. Meh. Too little chance to do its full effect, and not enough damage. (Ray of Sickness)
Shield. This is never, never a bad option for any spellcaster to take. +5 AC as a reaction is incredibly powerful, and I rarely make any sort of sorcerer or wizard without this spell. (Shield)
Sleep. Very powerful at lower levels, when enemies don't have that many hit points. If you put a whole room to sleep, you can just finish everyone off at your leisure. It unfortunately doesn't scale too well. (Sleep)
Thunderwave. Decent AoE, although slightly less damage than burning hands. The pushback isn't too bad. (Thunderwave)
Witch Bolt. I used to be a fan of this spell, but then I took one to the knee but then I realized just how risky and limited it is. It's relatively low damage, and ends if they move away, you do anything else, or lose concentration. (Witch Bolt)
2nd Level:
Most of the damage dealing spells at 2nd level aren't the greatest, but there are many very valuable defense and support spells to be found here.
Aganazzar's Scorcher: Not too bad, but also not that much better than something like thunderwave. It doesn't have much AoE without really great positioning, and it does fire damage (which is never a plus). (Aganazzar's Scorcher)
Alter Self: I mean, it's not bad. I don't really see many circumstances in which it's actually useful, though. Maybe against a lycanthrope or gargoyle or something at lower levels, but in that case you're better off using other spells and not trying to claw it to bits. (Alter Self)
Blindness/Deafness: This is a powerful debuff, but there's too many conditions for my liking. One, it's single target. Two, they can save at the end of their turn. Not to mention it's a Con save, one of the more common ones for monsters to be good at. (Blindness/Deafness)
Blur: This is a very good spell, but keep in mind it'll be outclassed at later levels by things like greater invisibility. You also might want your concentration for something else. If you're a shadow sorcerer there's not really any reason to take this. (Blur)
Cloud of Daggers: All in all, not horrible. The damage is relatively low and it requires concentration, but it is an auto hit spell. You have a guaranteed 8d4 slashing damage on one target, at least, but you can't move it. (Cloud of Daggers)
Crown of Madness: It sounds nice, but in practice does almost nothing. It takes an action to maintain, and they can easily just move away after making one attack and just wait to save out of it. (Crown of Madness)
Darkness: Eh. Slightly larger more versatile fog cloud. This easily becomes gold if you have access to a warlock's Devil Sight or similar ability, but otherwise it's not really worth taking. If you're a Shadow Magic sorcerer there's obviously no reason to ever take this, as you get it automatically. (Darkness)
Darkvision: Why spend a 2nd level spell slot on something a cantrip can do almost as well? (Darkvision)
Detect Thoughts: Great for roleplaying, not good for much else. If you have nothing better to take, might not be a bad option. (Detect Thoughts)
Dragon's Breath: Not a bad spell, especially if you use it on someone else so you don't have to waste your action. Does a decent amount of damage, has good AoE, varied damage types. (Dragon's Breath)
Dust Devil: There are much better spells to take then one that does the damage of a cantrip and pushes people a little. (Dust Devil)
Earthbind: Really not useful, especially since it doesn't even deal fall damage. If something's flying around that much, just shoot it down with ranged cantrips. (Earthbind)
Enhance Ability: Not bad, but also not really your job (unless you're a Divine Soul acting as a cleric, then it's not a bad choice). (Enhance Ability)
Enlarge/Redubce: Also not bad but not really your job. (Enlarge/Reduce)
Gust of Wind: You can spend a second level spell slot to and concentration to . . .push people away from you and have a 50% chance of blowing out lanterns. This is laughably bad. (Gust of Wind)
Hold Person: One of the best save or suck debuffs at earlier levels. Paralysis is an incredibly powerful condition, and Wis saves are a decent target against many humanoid monsters.
Invisibility: Not too bad, but concentration and it ending make it in general less useful and sustainable than blur. (Invisibility)
Knock: A second level spell slot to open locked doors. This is what rogues are for. (Knock)
Levitate: This can be hilarious against melee combatants without any ranged options, but is a bit too situational for my liking. (Levitate)
Maximilian's Earthen Grasp: Actually not a bad spell. Good debuff, and they have to spend an action to escape it. (Maximilian's Earthen Grasp)
Mind Spike: This spell is good not because it has a good debuff or terribly good damage, but because psychic damage is very rare, and psychic resistance is also not common. (Mind Spike)
Mirror Image: This spell is so good I'm convinced someone forgot to tack that pesky little "c" on it. 3 sources of potential free damage mitigation, and it doesn't even require concentration. Stack this with blur or Shadow Magic darkness for extra troll value. (Mirror Image)
Misty Step: A great panic GTFO option, especially as a squishy and as a bonus action. Not a bad option to take, although it doesn't go too far. (Misty Step)
Phantasmal Force: Decent effect, but low damage. If you really need psychic damage just go for mind spike. (Phantasmal Force)
Pyrotechnics: Neat, but mostly useless. (Pyrotechnics)
Scorching Ray: Definitely not bad, probably the best sheer damage option for level 2. Fire damage isn't ideal, but this has the most potential damage of any level two spell (if you hit, it is slightly more risky than most). This is better if you're a Draconic Ancestor sorcerer. (Scorching Ray)
See Invisibility: Really good for those pesky monsters that can turn invisible or go into the ethereal plane. You know, all three of them (obviously not an exact number, but still). (See Invisibility)
Shadow Blade: Very very nice spell for melee sorcerers, especially if you want a dex option. Note that you can attack a target in darkness with advantage, so if you don't have devil's sight or equivalent you can cancel your disadvantage. If you're not a melee sorcerer, probably not worth taking. (Shadow Blade)
Shatter: Better thunderwave. Definitely worth taking if you're a Storm Sorcerer, probably not worth it if you're not. (Shatter)
Snilloc's Snowball Storm: Decent damage, not very good AoE. There are better options for sheer damage. ([Tooltip Not Found])
Spider Climb: This is what climbing gear is for. The number of times this will actually be useful is very small. (Spider Climb)
Suggestion: If used carefully/creatively, this can be an extremely powerful spell. Note that the target only gets one save. If they fail that, they don't get any more chances unless damaged by you or your companions.
Warding Wind: You can do this better with either blur or darkness. There are just strictly better options. (Warding Wind)
Web: An extremely powerful map control tool. If you can position it well, you essentially block off a whole section of whatever arena you happen to be fighting in, or potentially slow a large group of enemies down for multiple turns. This is a classic for a reason. (Web)
3rd Level:
This is where many of your best options are, both for offense or defense. Blink, fireball, counterspell, you name it.
Blink: Yes. You read that right. You have a 50% chance of being undamagable until your next turn. And it doesn't require concentration. Enemies technically can ready attacks for you, but that's when other melee characters can keep them busy. Stack this with darkness or blur and mirror image to basically never get hit again.
Catnap: This will only very rarely be of any actual use. (Catnap)
Clairvoyance: Good for more socially oriented campaigns for spying or some such. Not really good for anything else. (Clairvoyance)
Counterspell: Very very good spell, especially in campaigns with a lot of mages (Or even PvP campaigns, if that's your sort of thing. I might make a separate guide at some point talking about the best strategies in those kinds of campaigns.). In my opinion it's a little better than dispel magic, although you can't go wrong with either of them. (Counterspell)
Daylight: Useful for countering darkness and not much else. (Daylight)
Dispel Magic: The reason I rate this lower than counterspell is often the most deadly spells aren't cast before combat starts, they're things like fireball or chain lightning that fire instantly. (Dispel Magic)
Enemies Abound: Very cool idea for a spell, and can really be effective if the target is positioned only near his allies. Might be better options. (Enemies Abound)
Erupting Earth: Decentish damage and AoE, but there are much better options. (Erupting Earth)
Fear: Fear is quite a powerful condition, and this spell does have good AoE. Not a bad option by any means. (Fear)
Fireball: Old faithful. Shoot it into a room of enemies and watch the world burn. Just be careful where you're aiming it, friendly fire is very easy. (Fireball)
Flame Arrows: Why are you using a bow? (Flame Arrows)
Fly: If you aren't using your concentration for something else, you can effortlessly avoid melee fighters for free. Or just cast this on the party archer and laugh at the carnage. Not a bad option, but probably not the best one. (Fly)
Gaseous Form: Not a bad panic option, I guess. You're probably better off with something like misty step, which is less situational and more all around useful. (Gaseous Form)
Haste: This is a candidate for quite possibly being the best buff in the game, at least at lower levels. There's not much it doesn't do, just make sure you can keep concentration on it. This is especially hilarious on melee fighters with huge burst damage like paladins. Slap this on and watch what's probably at least a 20 AC juggernaut run into the thick of things and oneshot everything while zooming everywhere. (Haste)
Hypnotic Pattern: You can just take an entire large group of enemies out of the fight until they take any damage. No reason this wouldn't be good, especially with only one saving throw. (Hypnotic Pattern)
Lightning Bolt: Old Faithful 2. Imo slightly worse than fireball due to the smaller AoE, but still very good. As a Storm Sorcerer, definitely take this over fireball. (Lightning Bolt)
Melf's Minute Meteors: Not too bad, but it does require concentration. You're probably better off with fireball just for instant damage. (Melf's Minute Meteors)
Protection from Energy: Not a bad spell, but unless you're a Divine Soul sorcerer this isn't your job. (Protection from Energy)
Sleet Storm: Not really worth the 3rd level spell slot. There are simply better options. (Sleet Storm)
Slow: Reverse haste, but AoE. Very good effect, but it isn't save or suck unfortunately. (Slow)
Stinking Cloud: Again, this isn't any better than just instant damage. (Stinking Cloud)
Thunder Step: Misty step but better. In literally every way, except action economy. (Thunder Step)
Tidal Wave: Oh no, I've been knocked prone. I might actually have to move three less spaces this turn. There are better options. (Tidal Wave)
Tongues: Very situational, and this isn't your job. (Tongues)
Wall of Water: Not really worth the spell slot, this can be accomplished in much easier and less costly ways. (Wall of Water)
Water Breathing: Very situational, and this isn't your job. (Water Breathing)
Water Walk: Very situational, and—wait, deja vu. Unless your character has a Jesus complex, not worth it. (Water Walk)
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
This part will go over 4th, 5th and 6th level spells. This is when you start to get fewer options, with more powerful effects.
4th Level:
Not really any important damage spells at this level, but there are some very important buffs and debuffs.
Banishment: Potentially removes one enemy from the fight for a full minute, as long as you stay back and don't get sniped. Save or sucks are almost always good. (Banishment)
Blight: Not worth the slightly increased damage for only a single target. Its secondary effect is way too situational to be of much use. (Blight)
Charm Monster: Not too bad, although there are probably better options. (Charm Monster)
Confusion: Very powerful AoE debuff. Banishment is better for smaller, stronger groups of enemies, while this is better for larger, weaker groups. (Confusion)
DimensionDoor: The ultimate panic option, but the extra distance isn't really needed. Can be useful in some situations.
Dominate Beast: Very powerful effect, but beasts don't really make up a large subset of monsters you'll be fighting in most campaigns. Chances are if they do they're weak enough that dominating them isn't too useful. (Dominate Beast)
Greater Invisibility: Darkness but you don't need to be a Shadow sorcerer or a warlock, and it doesn't hinder your teammates. Or you can give it to your rogue for extra lols. Not gold because it's concentration, but it's very close.
Ice Storm: The added effect is not worth the worse damage. (Ice Storm)
Polymorph: Very very powerful. At level 7 when you'll most likely get this, you can change any party member into a giant ape and essentially give them 157 extra hit points. At level 8, you can fulfill every fighter's secret dream and transform them into a tyrannosaurus rex. This is not only hilarious, but extremely powerful. (Polymorph)
Sickening Radiance: Exhaustion is a very powerful debuff, and I don't actually think there are any other spells that apply it. Radiant damage is also a very good damage type to have, and it has good AoE. (Sickening Radiance)
Stoneskin: At level 7, chances are you're going to be running into a lot of creatures with magical damage. Not too useful, especially considering you could just use blur for a lower spell slot and a possibly better effect. (Stoneskin)
Storm Sphere: Not a bad option, especially for Storm Sorcerers. Any spell that does damage as a bonus action is always nice. (Storm Sphere)
Vitriolic Sphere: Not bad damage and AoE, and acid damage isn't the worst damage type to have. (Vitriolic Sphere)
Wall ofFire: If you have a good position for it, this could be incredibly potent. That being said, those positions are relatively rare so this spell is fairly situational. (Wall of Fire)
Watery Sphere: You could use this, or you could just use hold person. Not really worth it. (Watery Sphere)
5th Level:
Some truly amazing spells in this level. There really aren't many bad options.
Animate Objects: Not only is there nothing more hilarious then stabbing a dragon to death with an army of animated forks, it's actually quite effective. The best course of action is usually to animate 10 Tiny or Small objects, and having an extra 10 creatures in your party all of a sudden is very very strong. And it's just hilarious. (Animate Objects)
Cloudkill: Not too bad, but there are much stronger options to be had at this level. (Cloudkill)
Cone of Cold: High damage, and absolutely massive AoE. Nothing not to like here. Obviously becomes even better for a Draconic Ancestry sorcerer using white or silver. (Cone of Cold)
Control Winds: Why would you ever choose this over literally anything else this level. (Control Winds)
Creation: Not bad, but fairly situational. Note that you can make adamantine weapons if you so choose. (Creation)
Dominate Person: Remember when I said that dominate beast was an extremely powerful effect but not really worth it on a beast? Here you go. Dominate the archmage and have fun. Maybe shouldn't have phrased it like that. (Dominate Person)
Enervation: Witch bolt but much much better. Still risky if you miss your first attack. (Enervation)
Far Step: Misty step but on multiple steroids and repeatable. If you really need to go fast, this is your spell. (Far Step)
Hold Monster: Hold person is one of the best spells, and this just makes sure you can use it on everything. (Hold Monster)
Immolation: Not too bad, but risky. Especially as it's only single target. (Immolation)
Insect Plague: Good area control and decent damage. Not bad. (Insect Plague)
Seeming: This probably isn't your job, and it's quite situational. (Seeming)
Skill Empowerment: Very situational, but very useful when it is useful. The amount of times skill checks matter enough to warrant this spell is low, though. And this probably isn't your job. (Skill Empowerment)
Synaptic Static: Fireball but with a great debuff and a much better damage type. (Synaptic Static)
Telekinesis: There are some really great things you can do with the spell, but at the end of the day it's still pretty situational. (Telekinesis)
Teleportation Circle: Useful, but situational. Let your wizard take it if you really need it (since it's a ritual). (Teleportation Circle)
Wallof Light: Radiant damage is always good, but I'm always hesitant to recommend wall spells due to their situational nature. Not too bad of an option, I guess. (Wall of Light)
Wall of Stone: If for some reason you need a panic fortress, here you go. Not many times you'll need that. (Wall of Stone)
6th Level:
Arcane Gate: Teleportation is always nice to a point, but it still is fairly situational. You don't really need this spell for anything. (Arcane Gate)
Chain Lightning: Massive damage, and decent AoE. Never a bad option. (Chain Lightning)
Circle of Death: Fireball but necrotic damage and larger. Most of the time, you won't need something quite this large and it would just be more efficient to use fireball. (Circle of Death)
Disintegrate: Great spell, but risky. It does massive single target damage (force damage too) and prevents resurrection, but it also completely wastes a spell slot if you miss. (Disintegrate)
Eyebite: Not worth it. You're better off using lower level spells that cause only one of the effects but are better at it. (Eyebite)
Globe of Invulnerability: Very good panic option against large amounts of mages. A little situational since not all fights will have a mage in them, but still good nonetheless. (Globe of Invulnerability)
Mass Suggestion: Suggestion is a very powerful spell, and making it AoE is understandably good. (Mass Suggestion)
Mental Prison: Extremely powerful single target save or suck, with the added benefit of dealing psychic damage. Note that you have a guaranteed 5d10 psychic damage even if they succeed on the save. (Mental Prison)
Move Earth: You can call down massive bolts of lightning, make yourself invulnerable to most magic, or become the world's best excavator. Your choice. (Move Earth)
Scatter: While this is hilarious, it's also mostly useless. (Scatter)
Sunbeam: Very nice damage option, especially thematically for Divine Souls. Radiant damage is always great, and for a repeatable AoE the damage itself is quite high. (Sunbeam)
True Seeing: Not bad if you're fighting against of lot of creatures that go invisible or have features like that of a displacer beast. Still pretty situational. (True Seeing)
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
This part will go over 7th, 8th and 9th level spells. You really have fewer options now, and it's very rare to find a bad one.
7th Level:
Crown of Stars: Very high overall damage (and radiant damage to boot), and it doesn't require concentration. Never a bad choice (and it just looks cool). (Crown of Stars)
Delayed BlastFireball: Not too bad an option, as even if you don't delay it it still has the damage of a fireball cast with a 7th level slot. The max damage this can reach is 22d6, which while massive isn't really practically possible since that requires you to keep concentration for 10 rounds, by the end of which most combats are over. (Delayed Blast Fireball)
Etherealness: Could be a really panicky panic option, I guess. Or good against a very specific subset of monsters. Still situational. (Etherealness)
Finger of Death: Yeah this is kind of just worse disintegrate. Sure, it turns into a zombie, but is that really useful at at least level 13? I guess it's slightly less risky since it at least does half damage, but it still overall does less damage. (Finger of Death)
Fire Storm: If you need a hilariously large amount of things dead, here you go. Anytime you don't need 30 cubic feet of sheer flames, not your go to. Most times I'd just say go with Delayed Blast Fireball instead. (Fire Storm)
Plane Shift: Panic option or situational tool for pursuit/plot advancing. Can also be used as a melee banishment that doesn't require concentration, which isn't bad. (Plane Shift)
Power Word Pain: While this is a powerful debuff, there are relatively few enemies worth using this on that have under 100 hit points. (Power Word Pain) (Power Word Pain)
Prismatic Spray: Decent damage and large AoE with some nice conditions tacked on. Not a bad option. (Prismatic Spray)
Reverse Gravity: Hilarious and actually very good. Be very careful of friendly fire, fall damage is unforgiving. (Reverse Gravity)
Teleport: If you really need to be at a particular place ASAP, here you go. Still situational as a non panic teleport. Very nice panic option combined with contingency, which unfortunately is a wizard exclusive. (Teleport)
Whirlwind: God, why are all the wind spells so bad. This just is strictly worse than other similar spells. (Whirlwind)
8th Level:
Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting: Despite having a great name, not really all that useful. Worse damage than an upcast fireball and not much better AoE, with some situational benefits. (Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting)
Earthquake: Not really all that useful, and surprisingly low damage. Could maybe be useful in very specific situations. (Earthquake)
Incendiary Cloud: Fireball but it lasts for forever and does slightly less damage (than it with an equivalent spell slot, at least). Definitely not a bad option. (Incendiary Cloud)
Power Word Stun: No. Single target stun that only works below 150 hit points is just not worth an 8th level slot. (Power Word Stun)
Sunburst: Decent damage and very good AoE, with a few decent but situational riders. Also not a bad pick. (Sunburst)
9th Level:
Gate: Like most teleport spells, situational. You can also summon a demon or something if you really want to and have its name (which is rare). Given the cost of the component as well, there are probably better options. (Gate)
Mass Polymorph: Hilarious and good. Note than unlike polymorph it's CR equal to half their level. (Mass Polymorph)
Meteor Swarm: The range of this spell is literally a mile. You can be basically way over 30 turns of movement (probably) from something and just nuke it. Massive damage as well, truly a classic. (Meteor Swarm)
Power Word Kill: I'm on the fence about this one. One hand, it's a free 100 damage, no questions asked. On the other hand, most monsters worth using this on have more than a 100 health, and you'll just end up wasting a slot. You're probably better off just nuking it with meteor swarm. (Power Word Kill)
Psychic Scream: Less damage and AoE than meteor swarm, but way more controllable and a better damage type. And, Intelligence saving throws are very uncommon, and most monsters don't have good bonuses towards them. (Psychic Scream)
Time Stop: Undeniably powerful, but slightly situational. You could potentially combo this with delayed blast fireball, while using the rest of your free turns to cast non concentration buffs on yourself. (Time Stop)
Wish: This spell basically lets you do whatever you want. That's never a bad thing. (Wish)
Now let's get to the really juicy stuff—multiclassing.
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
As a sorcerer, you have many powerful options (and are a powerful option yourself). Note that Charisma spellcasters are the most common type of spellcaster, so you'll have an easier time of it than wizards. I'll go over what I think of multiclassing to each class, and I'll post some example builds at the end of this guide, some utilizing multiclassing.
Multiclassing Evaluation:
Artificer: I unfortunately know next to nothing about this class, and won't be going over it in this guide.
Barbarian: Not for you. You rely too much on spells.
Bard: Not a bad option, as another Charisma full caster. Could be some nice synergy especially with Divine Soul, where you have access to Bard, Cleric and Sorcerer spells.
Cleric: A good option for flavor (think Storm Sorcerer and Tempest Domain), but generally not the best mechanically since clerics use Wisdom.
Druid: Meh. Wisdom spellcaster, and not too many synergistic traits, especially since you can't cast spells in Wild Shape until much later levels.
Fighter: Never a bad option to multiclass in, especially if you take this at level 1 for heavy armor proficiency. If you do take it, I'd recommend just one or two levels. Defense is generally the best option to take for a Fighting Style.
Monk: Eh, not enough needed ability scores in common, and a melee class to boot. I guess there are worse options.
Paladin: Sorcerer paladins, or sorcadins, are quite possibly the strongest possible combination of classes in the game. I'll probably make a full guide on just sorcadins at some point, but to sum it up: you get more spell slots for divine smite, you get booming blade as a melee fighter, an AC higher than a god's, and you get some truly amazing combinations and early level paladin abilities like Aura of Protection. If I could rate this higher than gold I would.
Ranger: Same as monk, although not a melee class so much.
Rogue: Not the worst option, but sneak attack doesn't apply to spells.
Warlock: Definitely a great option, especially if you aren't a Shadow Magic sorcerer and want to pick up Devil's Sight. There are many other great lower level Invocations as well, like free false life or free mage armor. And, Hexblade can make a great one level dip for sorcadins or similar builds who don't want to worry about Strength.
Wizard: Not the worst, but Intelligence isn't really a stat you have any use for.
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Feats are very powerful tools, especially for multiclassing builds. I'll go over which ones are worth it (although I won't be covering Dragonmarks, again due to lack of experience). Note that as a sorcerer, it's perfectly fine to just take a +2 Charisma bonus instead of a Feat.
Feats:
Actor: +1 Charisma is decent, but +2 Charisma is better.
Alert: Not ever getting surprised is very nice, and +5 initiative is good for any class. There are still probably more pressing feats to take.
Athlete: You're a mage, not an athlete.
Bountiful Luck: If you're a halfling (especially a support build like a Divine Soul), not a bad option at all. If you're not, sucks to be you.
Charger: You should be running away from the enemy, not towards them.
Crossbow Expert: Who needs crossbows when you have fire?
Defensive Duelist: You have shield. You don't need this, although it is slightly better than shield at very high levels.
Dragon Fear: Fear isn't bad, and dragonborns work well with sorcerers. If you're not a dragonborn, keep reading.
DragonHide: If you're a dragonborn but not a Draconic Ancestry sorcerer, this is a very good option.
Drow High Magic: Dispel magic is very good, and at will detect magic is pretty decent as well. If you're a drow.
Dual Wielder: You probably aren't wielding, nor are you dual.
Dungeon Delver: Never a bad option to take, but not a good one either. And probably not your job.
Durable: Only useful in certain niche builds, and probably not for you.
Dwarven Fortitude: This is honestly one of the best feats in the game, but dwarven sorcerers are rare. If you are a dwarf, can't really go wrong with this feat.
Elemental Adept: Very very good when paired with Draconic Ancestry. Not as good otherwise, but not bad.
Elven Accuracy: If you're an elf or half-elf and you're abusing darkness, you will basically never miss with this feat. This is gold.
Fade Away: Reactionary invisibility isn't bad, if you're a gnome.
Fey Teleportation: Free misty step and a Charisma boost. If you plan on taking this, might want to make your Charisma an odd number when you're first assigning ability scores.
Firearm Specialist (if you're using CR): Who needs guns when you have magic?
Flames of Phlegethos: Flames of Phlegm is never a bad option. I don't know this for sure, but it might stack with Elemental Adept so you can reroll 1s twice.
Grappler: This is not your job.
Great Weapon Master: You don't need the be the master of a weapon, that's what spells are for.
Healer: This is probably not your job. If you're a Divine Soul, you could consider getting this.
Heavy Armor Master: Not bad if you have heavy armor proficiency, but this probably isn't your job. Better for sorcadins, but it also isn't as good at later levels.
Heavy Armor Master: If you do have heavy armor proficiency, this is . . .not horrible.
Infernal Constitution: You don't really need this, but I guess it's not bad.
Inspiring Leader: This probably isn't your job, but it's not bad.
Keen Mind: You don't care about any of these things.
Lightly Armored: Just take a level of fighter or warlock or almost any other class. This is completely not worth it.
Linguist: Situational and not your job.
Lucky: Never a bad feat for anyone to take.
Mage Slayer: Why are you in melee combat?
Magic Initiate: Not bad, but not necessary.
Martial Adept: You're not martial, and you definitely don't need to be an adept.
Medium Armor Master: If you care about AC that much, be a sorcadin or start with a level of fighter.
Mobile: Not bad, but you shouldn't be melee attacking much in the first place.
Moderately Armored: Just as useless as the other two.
Mounted Combatant: Could be good if you're a sorcadin with find steed.
Observant: You don't care about this.
Orcish Fury: You aren't a melee fighter probably.
Polearm Master: Why use polearms when you have spells?
Prodigy: You probably don't care about this.
Resilient: This is good for other casters without Constitution saving throw proficiency, but as a sorcerer you already start with this proficiency.
Ritual Caster: Not too bad, but not necessary.
Savage Attacker: You don't need this.
Second Chance: Not a bad panic option with a nice ability score boost.
Sentinel: Not your job.
Sharpshooter: Not your job.
Shield Master: Not your job.
Skilled: Not your job, and not that useful in the first place.
Skulker: Not your job, but potentially useful.
Spell Sniper: Not half bad, although you don't normally need more range. Ignoring most cover is nice.
Squat Nimbleness: You don't really need this, and there are better options.
Svirfneblin magic: You don't really need this, and there are better options.
Tavern Brawler: This is not your job.
Tough: Never a bad thing for any character, but this probably isn't your job.
WarCaster: Much better for sorcadins than normal sorcerers, but even just the advantage on Con saves is nothing to scoff at.
Weapon Master: This isn't your job.
Wood Elf Magic: Longstrider isn't bad, but there are better options.
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Here's a example of a build for each subclass. These aren't necessarily all optimized or anything, some are just fun, interesting or thematic. All of these builds will be at level 20, but I'll give suggestions for order of leveling.
Divine Soul (Ultimate support build):
Here's a sample Divine Soul, mostly meant for support. You can use different spells if you want, didn't try to min max too much. I took Aasimar because they make good sorcerers, and have good support abilities. Multiclassed into Celestial Warlock for Devil's Sight darkness and some more support focused abilities, and into Life Domain Cleric for 1 level for Disciple of Life (you can take another level instead of either a sorcerer or warlock level to get the Channel Divinity if you want, but I wanted the level 6 warlock ability and 7th level spells). Took Healer for obvious reasons, and War Caster so if I needed to get up close I could keep concentration more reliably, and so I could cast component/somatic spells while using a shield. Wearing half-plate and a shield for the slightly better AC (don't have the strength for plate), can reach 23 with shield. Keep in mind this build is without any magic items.
This build has great healing potential, good buffs and debuffs, and decent damage output if needed. Very versatile, and with decent survivability for a spellcaster. Only weaknesses are no level 8 or 9 slots, and no higher level sorcerer abilities (namely the level 18 Divine Soul one).
Draconic Ancestor (Classic Almost Full Sorcerer, Survivability/Support/Damage):
Here's a sample Draconic Ancestor (Red/Gold) build, mostly damage with some tanky options and a few twists. Again, these spells are interchangeable. Took the two levels of Rogue really just for fun and Cunning Action, as the last couple sorcerer levels aren't really too necessary. Took Elemental Adept (Fire) for the nice synergy, and Tough because why not. Also took different spells than I might normally due to Elemental Adept and Elemental Affinity. Not too much else to say here, it's a pretty straight forward build. AC can reach 22 with shield, and I took mirror image as well. Again, no magic items used.
This build's main strengths are high damage, good survivability and some nice overall quality of life options like Expertise and Cunning Action (especially since he has a flying speed). Only weaknesses are a slight lack of some powerful debuffs/buffs (due to me taking more fire spells than usual), and not much strength up close.
Shadow Magic (Half Sorcadin, less Pally levels than I would normally recommend since this is a sorcerer guide, Damage and Tanky):
Here's a sample Shadow Magic build, with some paladin and warlock thrown in. This isn't a full sorcadin, and not what I'd recommend if you want to go that route, but it's extremely powerful nonetheless. Spells are mostly interchangeable as always. I'm using high half elf (even though I didn't rate it that well) to get booming blade at an earlier level, as it isn't based off of your spellcasting modifier. I took two levels of paladin for divine smite, pally spells like bless and shield of faith if you're not using your concentration for darkness for some reason, and took it as my starting class for heavy armor proficiency. Took 1 level of warlock so I could abuse Hexblade's ability to use their Charisma mod for melee attacks (this is very important, both so I can mostly ignore strength, and also to activate Elven Accuracy), as well as for eldritch blast and armor of agathys. I took War Caster for advantage on concentration and casting while my hands are full (pretty much obligatory in this build), as well as Elven Accuracy. The reason Elven Accuracy is so good in this build is a combination of a couple of things. One, you can use darkness to have nearly permanent advantage on all attacks. Two, Hexblade allows you to use Charisma for your melee attacks, and Elven Accuracy wouldn't work if you were using Strength. Thus, you have super advantage on pretty much all attacks you make, and pretty much every attack against you will have disadvantage. Took plate and a shield for the AC (obviously), which is either 26 with shield or an absurd 28 with no magic items, shield of faith and shield. I'd generally recommend darkness instead of shield of faith, but there are situations where it will be more beneficial to let your allies actually see what's going on (well, maybe). As always, no magic items are used, but you can easily get up to a 23 or higher base AC with a couple of uncommon items. With +3 plate, a +3 shield, a cloak of protection, and a ring of protection your base AC is 29, with your max AC being a whopping 36 (yes, that's 13 higher than a Tarrasque's).
This build's strengths are insane burst damage and accuracy (17 slots just of the levels able to be used for divine smite), great buffs/debuffs, ridiculous AC, and the versatile spellcasting of a sorcerer in a melee fighter. Really the only downsides are no level 18 sorcerer ability (and the Shadow Magic one is very good), and relatively low hit points for a melee fighter (although with your AC that shouldn't matter much).
Storm Sorcerer (With a dash of Tempest Cleric for theme and synergy, Damage):
Here's a sample Storm Sorcerer build, with a little cleric mixed in. Took Protector Aasimar for the Wisdom and Charisma boost mostly, even though I wouldn't normally recommend it. Took two levels of Tempest Domain, you can also take three if you want second level cleric spells (spiritual weapon is very very good). I would always recommend at least two so you get the Channel Divinity, which is . . .ridiculous. I don't completely know if it works with every roll of chain lightning or not (my guess is it doesn't based on the phrasing), but that's still at least 40 free lightning damage that ignores resistance (if it does apply to every bolt, that's at least 40 free damage to up to 7 targets). Speaking of which, I took Elemental Adept (Lightning) for obvious reasons (you can take Thunder but fewer spells deal thunder damage), and War Caster for the usual reasons. Half-plate and a shield for better AC (19 base, 24 with shield and 26 with shield of faith)).
The strengths of this build are very high damage (multiple abilities allowing for rerolls), the ability to frequently punish those who manage to hit you (Storm's Fury and Wrath of the Storm), and AoE damage around you when casting lightning/thunder spells (Heart of the Storm). You also have great maneuverability due to Wind Soul's flying speed, and a plethora of resistances and immunities (radiant and necrotic resist as an Aasimar, thunder and lightning immunity from Wind Soul (or at least resistance if you take more cleric levels instead)). Main downsides are basically just the fact that Storm Sorcerers aren't the best subclass overall, some possible difficulties at lower levels with survivability, and relatively low hit points.
Wild Magic (Going full sorcerer on this one, and just appreciating the chaos):
Here's a sample Wild Magic build. Spells are interchangeable as always. Took Levistus Tiefling just because it's a solid choice. No multiclassing here, wanted one pure sorcerer build. I took Flames of Phlegethos because it's useful, Lucky because it's always good and it feeds into the whole chaos theme, and War Caster because there's really no reason not to. No armor since I didn't multiclass, so your AC will be 15 with mage armor, 20 with shield.
Strengths are versatile sorcerer casting and AoE damage around you. Weaknesses are no armor from multiclassing, and just nothing really spectacular about this build in general. There's not really anything that especially stands out.
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
I hope you enjoyed this sorcerer guide. Please feel free to ask any questions you might have, or give feedback or other build ideas. Anything is welcome.
From the poll results above, it looks like I'll be doing a Bard guide next. I'll post some more different options in the poll for that one.
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Heavy Armor Master: Not worth it. You can just start with a level of fighter or take a level of life domain cleric or something and gain the same effect.Heavy Armor Master: If you do have heavy armor proficiency, this is . . .not horrible.
it quoted strangely but you but heavy armor master twice instead of heavily armored
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Ah, yes. Summon a CR 1 monster as a bonus action for 3 sorcery points, and it'll attack a single target while giving that target disadvantage against any of your spell's saving throws, and having more hit points than usual, and knowing its target's location at all times. Oh, and it can walk through walls. Is there any reason this wouldn't be a good thing?
the best part of this is that there's very little stopping you from summoning multiple of them.
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Shadow magic sorcerers can only see through their own darkness if they cast it with sorcery points. At higher levels where you have more of them is not such a big deal, but it's a big ask at third level. I actually made a tiefling shadow magic sorcerer multiclassed hexblade warlock for the medium armor and shield proficiencies and devil's sight. I cast darkness with my racial trait and stood in my personal pool of darkness with my 19 AC at level five with Shield ready if I needed it. Plus warlock spell slots are great for converting into sorcery points since they're a consistent level and come back on a short rest. Metamagic all day long.
This is true, but you can also just convert a spell slot into sorcery points and cast it that way. Could be mistaken, but I think you can just bonus action use a 1st level spell slot to get 2 points, then burn them on darkness immediately.
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
How to Control the Storm Within: A Guide to the Sorcerer
So, I decided to try my hand at making some character optimization guides, this one being the third. I’ll mostly be focusing on optimization and not roleplay, so there’s always more room to add flavor to your character. Now, let’s cut right to the punch/knife/arrow.
This thread will be updated every so often. I won't have all of this ready right away, so I'll be adding to it in individual posts.
Throughout this guide, I'll be using colors to denote how useful a certain ability/race etc. is. Here's the scale:
Gold is a must have, at least in my opinion.
Green is a very good ability, but could maybe be replaced with something else.
Blue is a solid choice, but there are perhaps better ones.
Black is just average.
Red is most likely useless, or almost useless.
Gray is something that is rarely useful, but can be surprisingly good in some situations.
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
What is a Sorcerer?
Sorcerer is a full spellcasting class that almost exclusively uses Charisma. They are very similar to wizards in many ways, but have a few key differences. Basically, wizards can cast a larger variety of spells and learn more spells to add to the overall pool of spells they can prepare, while sorcerers generally can manipulate their spells in different ways, and can cast them more often. Lore-wise, sorcerers are able to cast spells due to harnessing the powers of their bloodline, whereas wizards learn their spells from centuries of careful study.
Pros:
Cons:
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Ability Scores
As a sorcerer, you will almost exclusively be using Charisma. That being said, you can't just dump all the others.
Strength: Unless you plan on multiclassing into Pally, this is a dump stat for you. You really don't need anything for melee attacks.
Dexterity: While you don't need Dex for weapon fighting, you do want probably at least a +2 bonus to improve your otherwise horrible AC. Even with a +2 Dex, you'll only be able to reach an AC of 12 without mage armor or a Draconic Ancestor.
Constitution: While you desperately need hit points, you also want Con for concentration saves. Sorcerer is actually the only full spellcasting class that has proficiency in Con saving throws, so that will make your life a little easier on that end.
Intelligence: Sorcerers will almost never need Intelligence, unless you're the only person in your party who can have proficiency in Arcana.
Wisdom: Too many important saving throws ride on Wisdom to make this a dump stat. You still don't need it to be one of your highest.
Charisma: This is what you will use for literally everything.
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Races
As a sorcerer, you really want a race with Charisma, and hopefully either Dex or Con. Having a Spellcasting feature or other features that mesh nicely with sorcerer mechanics is also appreciated.
PH Races:
Dragonborn: Dragonborn is an interesting one. While Breath Weapon and a damage resistance is always nice, said resistance makes Draconic Ancestor's Elemental Affinity less useful. Strength also isn't the best thing to have a bonus to. Overall, a solid but not amazing choice.
Mountain Dwarf: While Con is nice, no charisma and strength is not. However, medium armor proficiency mildly makes up for this, making it not the worst choice.
Hill Dwarf: While hill dwarfs don't have Charisma either, they do have Dwarven Resilience instead of medium armor prof. Still not the best choice.
Dark Elf (Drow): Definitely not a bad choice. Some nice spells, as well as both Dex and Charisma make drow a very solid choice for a sorcerer. The only thing holding this back is Sunlight Sensitivity, but that can be worked around with relative ease.
High Elf: There is no reason to go high elf when you could be a drow and have Charisma.
Wood Elf: There is no reason to go wood elf when you could be a drow and have Charisma.
Forest Gnome: While gnome abilities are decent, no Charisma and Int are not.
Rock Gnome: Pretty much the same as forest gnome, but with Con instead of Dex.
Half-Elf: A very good choice for a sorcerer. +2 Charisma is great, and you can put the other two points in Dex and Con. You're probably better off with one of the variants, but normal half-elf certainly isn't a bad choice.
Lightfoot Halfling: Another good choice. Charisma and Dex are good, and Lucky is always nice.
Stout Halfling: Still not bad, but no charisma means there's basically no reason you should ever choose this over Lightfoot.
Half-Orc: Not bad for survivability, and becomes much better if you plan on going Sorcadin, but there are many better options otherwise.
Human: You don't need many different ability scores to be good, so Variant Human is probably the better choice (as always). Still not necessarily a bad choice.
Variant Human: Very good. It would be better, but you don't need as many feats as a sorcerer as some other builds might. You could still use something like Tough, Elemental Adept or maybe Spell Sniper even.
Tiefling: A very good choice. Tiefling spells mesh well with sorcerer, although +1 Int isn't great.
EEPC Races:
Aarakocra: While flight is great, no Charisma is not.
Air Genasi: While Con and Dex are good, no Charisma is not.
Earth Genasi: A bonus to Con and your dump stat. Nope.
Fire Genasi: Has probably the best spells out of all the genasi, but still isn't really worth it.
Water Genasi: Pretty much the same as the rest.
Deep Gnome: Basically the same as Forest Gnome, but slightly better abilities.
Goliath: You aren't a barbarian.
VgtM Races:
Fallen Aasimar: If you're planning on going Pally as well, not a bad choice. Otherwise, still not a bad choice.
Protector Aasimar: Definitely the worst of the Aasimar. Wisdom is decent, but you don't need a bonus to it.
Scourge Aasimar: Probably the best of the Aasimar. Constitution and Charisma are always good, as are Aasimar abilities in general.
Bugbear: Nope. No Charisma is almost never good, and this isn't an exception.
Firbolg: You are not a druid.
Goblin: Not too bad a choice, but still no Charisma.
Hobgoblin: Meh. Definitely not worth it.
Kenku: You aren't a rogue.
Kobold: You aren't a rogue. Not that you care about Strength, but you do care about Charisma. Still a decentish set of abilities.
Lizardfolk: You aren't a druid/cleric/someone who uses Wisdom.
Orc: While you may not care about Int, you care about Charisma. And you should probably be in the back lines, not the front.
Tabaxi: Actually pretty decent. Dex and Charisma is always nice, and Feline Agility is a nice movement buff if you need to get out fast.
Triton: Not bad. You don't care about Strength, but Con and Charisma are good, and fog cloud isn't bad. Not quite as good as Tabaxi.
Yuan-Ti: Very good, if your DM allows it. Magic Resistance is ludicrous, and poison immunity is situational but great. You don't care about Int, but the rest of the package is more than enough.
SCAG Races:
Aquatic Half-Elf: Charisma and two of your choice is great, swimming speed is too situational to be useful unless you're in an aquatic campaign.
Drow Half-Elf: A great choice. Good spells, good ASIs, and Fey Ancestry.
High Half-Elf: Meh. You don't need a cantrip based on Int, and you don't need weapons. Not bad by any means, just worse than any other half-elf.
Wood Half-Elf: More speed? Sure. Stealth? Meh . . . Not bad, but not as good as Drow Half-Elf.
Ghostwise Halfling: You want a halfling with no Charisma bonus and weird telepathy? Didn't think so.
Feral Tiefling: Normal tiefling is just straight up better.
MToF Races:
Githyanki: You don't care about Strength, but you do care about Charisma. I s'pose medium armor isn't bad, but it's not necessary.
Githzerai: Still no Charisma and worse abilities for a sorcerer.
Baalzebul Tiefling: Normal tiefling with worse spells. There is no reason to ever choose this variant.
Dispater Tiefling: Meh. Normal tiefling has more damage oriented spells, but these spells aren't bad. Dex is nice, making this overall not a bad option.
Fierna Tiefling: You don't care about Wisdom, but these spells are nice if you're going a little more of the enemy control path (which is a somewhat odd choice for a sorcerer, but not necessarily a bad one). Suggestion is especially potent.
Glasya Tiefling: Better for rogues, but still not a bad option for a stealthier sorcerer. Dex is always nice.
Levistus Tiefling: Imo, the best tiefling for sorcerer. Con is always great (Levistus is the only tiefling that gives a bonus to Con) and all the spells are good. I could see this definitely being gold with a multiclass in Warlock (for Devil's Sight).
Mammon Tiefling: Completely useless spells and a bonus to Int. Much better options exist everywhere.
Mephistopheles Tiefling: Not a bad choice. Pretty good spells, although Int is meh. Probably not as good as the other blue tieflings.
Zariel Tiefling: Strength is almost always a dump stat, thereby making bonuses to it and smite spells pretty much useless.
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Class Features
Sorcerer's class features are really what make them stand out as one of the most versatile casters of all the classes, mostly due to Metamagic. They may not have quite the same control over spells or volume of spells as a wizard, but they can cast the ones they do have with greater flexibility and more often.
Base Class Features:
Hit Points
Not good. d6s are the lowest you can get, and having less hit points is never good. That being said, you can counteract this somewhat with either a multiclass into a melee class, or the Draconic Bloodline subclass (+1 hit point every level).
Proficiencies
Kind of a mixed bag. Constitution saving throws are without a doubt the most important saving throw for a spellcaster, and while Charisma saving throws are less common, the ones you do run into tend to be deadly if you fail (i.e. the one I can think of off the top of my head is banishment). Your skills are all great for you'll most likely need (social/magic analytical), but your armor/weapon profs aren't great. Having no armor proficiencies is more of a big deal at level 1 when you'll have less spell slots to spare for something like mage armor (again, unless you're a Draconic Bloodline sorcerer), and you won't have too much need of weapons.
Starting Equipment Recommendations
I'd go with the light crossbow, but nothing else really matters what you choose. You won't be using much of any of these things except for your focus.
Spellcasting
I rate this slightly lower than a Wizard or Cleric's spellcasting trait, simply because it's based off spells known instead of prepared. That being said, it's still a normal full spellcasting trait.
Sorcerous Origin
See next post.
Font of Magic
This . . .this is gold. Here you have your first unique sorcerer trait, and it's a doozy especially at higher levels. For now the only use you'll have for sorcery points is getting a single level one spell slot, but at level 2 that's a huge deal. And it only gets better from here.
Metamagic
A sorcerer's true defining trait. These will allow you to have better versatility than pretty much any other spellcaster, at least with the limited amount of spells you know. I'll put a spoiler ranking/recommending options below this one.
Ability Score Improvement
Standard ASI. Ranked black because it's not fighter or rogue.
Sorcerous Restoration
I mean, it's not bad. But at level 20 you're probably not too concerned about sorcery points anyways, and you'll often multiclass before you ever get to this. All in all not really a necessary capstone.
Metamagic options:
Careful Spell
Definitely a high tier option, especially for AoE control spells like web and [/spell]hypnotic pattern[/spell]. Less useful for damage AoEs like fireball where they still take partial damage, but still good.
Distant Spell
Situational, but useful. Still, there are definitely better options. Only thing I could maybe see this being useful for is high damage close range spells like inflict wounds, but that spell is only available to Divine Soul sorcerers anyways.
Empowered Spell
Maybe not the best option, but definitely a solid choice overall. This option becomes less useful if you take a feat like Elemental Affinity.
Extended Spell
Also not bad, but not the best. The main issue is that most spells have a duration of 1 minute, and in most combat situations you'll either lose concentration or just finish the combat before it runs out.
Heightened Spell
A very good option. The best spells to combine this with are save or suck spells like confusion, hold person/monster, dominate person/monster, disintegrate etc. It's not as useful for spells where they'll still do partial damage on a success, especially since this is one of the more expensive options.
Quickened Spell
A near necessity for any sorcerer. This can work with almost any build, you just have to remember that you can only cast one 1st level spell or higher each turn. One of my personal favorite uses for this is with a melee multiclass build, where you can attack twice with Extra Attack as your action and then bonus action cast booming blade or green-flame blade for even more damage.
Subtle Spell
Yeah, there's really not much use for this. Way too situational, although it could maybe be good in a few specific roleplaying/negotiating situations.
Twinned Spell
Another great option, especially for powerful buffs like haste or extremely strong single target damage spells like disintegrate. Also good with things like hold person.
Overall, at least at level 1 I'd say you can't go wrong with either Quickened and Twinned or Quickened and Careful. Between the two it mostly depends on the build you're going for and personal preference.
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Subclasses
Sorcerers have a wide variety of options for subclasses, with many powerful features and unique properties. They also have some of the best roleplaying flavor out of any of the classes, in my opinion. You really can't go wrong with any one of these.
Note: I will not be going over UA subclasses in this guide.
Divine Soul:
Type: Healing/Support/Survival
A very interesting subclass that basically turns you into a cleric. Definitely the best way to go if you want to fill a more supportive/healer role in the party. That being said, if you want to be a more traditional sorcerer this is definitely not the best class for you.
Divine Magic
Having access to a greater variety of spells is never a bad thing, and some cleric spells are very useful indeed. This is especially important to keep in mind if you go full healer, as sorcerers don't have access to any healing spells in their own spell list. While you might not be quite as potent a healer as a Life Domain cleric, you'll get close enough that it doesn't really matter with the added utility you bring. The second part of this trait is great as well, learning an extra spell is especially good for characters like sorcerers and bards who have access to fewer spells than preparation based spellcasters. What alignment you pick is completely up to you, and can be either more mechanical or more roleplay. I will say you can't go wrong with bless or cure wounds. I'm not going to go over what cleric spells you could choose in this guide, but if I ever make a cleric guide I'll link to it here, as the recommendations would be mostly the same.
Favored by the Gods
Very useful, although limited use (obviously). The nice thing about this is it doesn't cost any sort of action.
Empowered Healing
Very very useful. This is what puts you on par (healing wise, at least) with a Life Domain or Grave Domain cleric. Note that unlike Empowered Spell, the number of dice you can reroll does not depend on your Charisma modifier—you can just always reroll however many you want. The fact that you can trigger it for allies as well is very nice as well, especially considering the low cost.
Otherworldly Wings
Having more mobility is never a bad thing, and a flying speed is the most useful kind of speed to have. Makes it easier to stay away from any hard hitting melee enemies you might come across, and lets you ignore difficult terrain pretty much on demand.
Unearthly Recovery
Yeah, uh . . .recovering half your hit points as a bonus action is never going to be a bad thing. Never.
Draconic Bloodline:
Type: Survivability/Damage
One of the all around best options that you can't really go wrong with. It boasts the greatest survivability out of any of the subclasses (except for Divine Souls once they get Unearthly Recovery, obviously) even at level 1, and has a nice mix of damage and utility for the rest of its abilities.
Dragon Ancestor
Not really much meaning at level 1, but it is important for later skills (as it says). Not a bad social skill, especially in a campaign like Hoard of the Dragon Queen or something where you know you'll be seeing a lot of dragons. Still too situational to get a higher rating, and this is really more of a flavor ability than anything.
Draconic Resilience
This increases your hit points by 1 per level and gives you free mage armor. Since most sorcerers are going to want that running at all times to avoid getting hit by everything all the time, this is basically a free spell slot every long rest. Very very good ability, especially at level 1.
Elemental Affinity
Very good, but not on the same level as Draconic Resilience. That being said, 1 sorcery point for an hour of damage resistance is very cheap, and there are plenty of good spells to add your Charisma modifier to (I believe this also works with green-flame blade if you're using a melee build with red/gold dragon ancestry).
Dragon Wings
Having more mobility is never a bad thing, and a flying speed is the most useful kind of speed to have. Makes it easier to stay away from any hard hitting melee enemies you might come across, and lets you ignore difficult terrain pretty much on demand. (Totally didn't copy paste this from Divine Soul)
Draconic Presence
Not bad, but there are plenty of higher level monsters that have immunity to both of these conditions. Do note that (unless I'm reading it wrong) if they fail the first save, they don't get to resave at all. Also not sure if you can cast a concentration spell while using this ability (I would guess not, but it's not terribly clear in the description).
Shadow Magic:
Type: Survivability, Darkness abuser
The only sorcerer class that on its own is part of the darkness abuser club, normally a warlock exclusive. This is in my opinion one of the strongest subclasses out of any of them, and definitely the strongest overall mechanically of all the Sorcerer ones.
Eyes of the Dark
Darkvision is always useful, especially that large of a range and if you're a human. The main kicker for this spell comes at level 3, though. Basically, you can cast a level two spell (darkness) with a level one spell slot or two sorcery points. Not only that, you can see through it while no one else can. In other words, you permanently have advantage on all attacks and your enemies permanently have disadvantage. The only downside to this is if your darkness orb gets in your team's way. If you have a warlock with devil's sight in your party, this becomes even more ridiculous.
Strength of the Grave
A half-orc's Relentless Endurance, but with more qualifications and a saving throw. This would be better if Relentless Endurance wasn't strictly better, but then again you probably aren't a half-orc sorcerer. And if you are, you get both options. At least you have Charisma saving throw proficiency.
Hound of Ill Omen
Ah, yes. Summon a CR 1 monster as a bonus action for 3 sorcery points, and it'll attack a single target while giving that target disadvantage against any of your spell's saving throws, and having more hit points than usual, and knowing its target's location at all times. Oh, and it can walk through walls. Is there any reason this wouldn't be a good thing?
Shadow Walk
Free 120 foot teleportation as long as you're in dim light. Given that most dungeons aren't exactly known for being well lit, you can basically be wherever you want on a battlefield every single turn. For a bonus action. And you can move afterwards.
Umbral Form
For 6 sorcery points, near universal resistance and the ability to walk through walls is a pretty sweet deal. Only reason this isn't rated higher is it's just not quite as good as the rest of your subclass abilities.
Storm Sorcery:
Type: Damage, Mobility
Not a bad choice, especially for naval campaigns. It struggles at lower levels, however, especially compared with Draconic Ancestry or Shadow Magic.
Wind Speaker
If you're in a campaign with a lot of elementals, less useless. If you're not, pretty much completely useless.
Tempestuous Magic
Not a bad panic option, but note that it has to be on your turn (i.e. shield can't trigger it). Also note you can move before you cast your spell or after, allowing for some sneaky positioning or just GTFOing after casting a shorter ranged spell.
Heart of the Storm
Resistance to two types of damage, both fairly common, and occasionally a nice AoE damage effect on top of it? Nothing not to like here.
Storm Guide
Mostly just a flavor ability, but could maybe be useful in a nautical campaign. Still very situational.
Storm's Fury
Considering how squishy you are, this is more of a good panic option than an offensive ability, as you should probably never be in the front line. That being said, it's a very good panic option.
Wind Soul
Very good maneuverability, and immunity to two semi-common damage types is great. Also the only sorcerer subclass ability that grants you flying speed that can be shared. Still a little disappointing for a level 18 capstone ability.
Wild Magic:
Type: Damage?, Chaos Incarnate
Even though this subclass isn't necessarily the most potent mechanically, it has some of the best roleplay potential of any of them. Not only that, the potential exists for the sheer hilarious chaos that happens when you accidentally drop a fireball in the middle of your party. Been there, done that. At level 2. Didn't go well.
Wild Magic Surge
This can be one of the most fun and unique abilities in the entire game, but it really all depends on how your DM treats it. If he/she forgets about it, some of the great options like "you turn into a potted plant until the start of your next turn" will never see the light of day.
Tides of Chaos
Free advantage is always nice, and if you have a nice DM you can abuse this.
Bend Luck
Bless or bane as a reaction for sorcery points. Even better when you realize most similar abilities in other classes can only be used once per long rest or short rest.
Controlled Chaos
Again, mostly dependent on your DM. If he/she has you roll frequently, this is very nice to have. If not, it's useless.
Spell Bombardment
Very good, especially for a once per turn feature. Even better if you have something that allows you to reroll in the first place, like empowered spell or Elemental Adept.
Now, onwards to spells. This could take a while . . .
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Spells (Part 1)
Choosing spells can be a very difficult and confusing task, especially if you're newer to D&D or just don't play spellcasters very frequently. I'll go over every single sorcerer spell, rate it, and talk about what it's purpose is.
This part will be for cantrips, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level spells.
Cantrips:
As a sorcerer, you have more cantrips early on than most spellcasters, and some very potent ones as well. These will be your bread and butter at lower levels, and there are many good options for both damage and utility. I'll put the tooltip after each spell for easy reference.
Acid Splash. One of very few AoO cantrips, and decent damage. Downsides are the medium range, and relatively low damage for a cantrip. Still not a bad option, especially in a campaign with a lot of trash mobs. There are better pure damage spells, however. (Acid Splash)
Blade Ward. Not as bad as it is for many other classes, as you can use quickened spell on it as an emergency. Fairly decent panic option, but shouldn't be your first choice. This also only works against weapon attacks, which depending on your DM's ruling might not work against natural weapons like claws. (Blade Ward)
Booming Blade. If you're using a melee build of any sort, this is a must have. Not only does it buff your melee attack damage at later levels if you don't take Extra Attack from another class, it keeps enemies trapped in melee with you and can be quickened. If you take the War Caster feat, you can also use this as an AoO, triggering the move damage immediately. A must have for any melee build, but DO NOT PRIORITIZE if you aren't a melee fighter and are squishy. It's not bad as it can keep them from chasing you, but it's probably not worth it. (Booming Blade)
Chill Touch. A very good ranged damage cantrip. Necrotic is a good damage type to have, it has good range, decent damage, and prevents healing. You can't go wrong with choosing this. (Chill Touch)
Control Flames. This is literally just a worse version of prestidigitation or minor illusion. You can't even start fires with it, just control them. You should never take this spell. (Control Flames)
Create Bonfire. Could maybe be interesting combined with booming blade to keep them in it, but it's probably not worth your concentration. You're probably just better off taking fire bolt. (Create Bonfire)
Dancing Lights. Meh. A lot of races have darkvision, and this doesn't even shed bright light. If you need light, just take light. (Dancing Lights)
Fire Bolt. The highest potential damage of any of your ranged cantrips, and great range as well. The only reason this isn't gold and a must take is that it's fire damage, which is very commonly resisted. This would probably become gold if you go fully into it with gold/red Draconic Ancestor and Elemental Adept (fire). I'd say at level 1, every sorcerer should have either this or chill touch. (Fire Bolt)
Friends. I've seen some people use this, but in my opinion it's not really worth it. In many social situations where this would be warranted you aren't going to want the target to go hostile afterwards, and you could get advantage just from one of your companions helping you. (Friends)
Frostbite. Very good if you're struggling to hit higher AC opponents, and with a great debuff. The only issue with this spell is the lower damage and the fact that many monsters have very high Constitution saving throw bonuses. (Frostbite)
Green-Flame Blade. Booming blade's slightly more situational cousin. A very good option for melee builds, although I'd recommend taking booming blade first. Not worth it for non-melee sorcerers at all. (Green-Flame Blade)
Gust. Yeah, no thank you. Same story as control flames. There are other spells that can do its job much better. (Gust)
Infestation. Not bad, but strictly worse than frostbite. The same saving throw and damage die for a more commonly resisted damage type and a worse debuff. (Infestation)
Light. Situational, but very good at its job. I'd let the party cleric take it if you have one and you need some source of light. (Light)
Lightning Lure. Not worth it at all. Low range, low damage, situational damage, etc. If you need close range spells the other SCAG spells are strictly better, or even shocking grasp. (Lightning Lure)
Mage Hand. If you want a utility spell, this is a good choice. Nice for triggering traps from a safe distance, or even just for roleplay purposes. I'd say for utility you might be slightly better off with minor illusion or prestidigitation, though. (Mage Hand)
Mending. Very situational, and you're probably better off letting your party cleric take it if you have one and need it. (Mending)
Message. Not bad for stealthy situations and distant communication, but still pretty situational. (Message)
Minor Illusion. Probably the best utility cantrip in most situations. You just have so many options, the only thing it can't do is physically move objects. (Minor Illusion)
Mold Earth. Only slightly less useless than control flames or gust, and that's not saying much. Only reason it's not complete garbage is that distant terrain creation, but it's still very situational and probably not worth it. (Mold Earth)
Poison Spray. The highest damage out of any sorcerer cantrips, but low range and a common saving throw. You're probably better off sticking with shocking grasp for melee range. (Poison Spray)
Prestidigitation. Very good utility spell. It's not quite as versatile as minor illusion and it has slightly less range, but it can create actual physical objects, can't be seen through with Investigation, and lasts longer.
Ray of Frost. Not a bad ranged damage cantrip, but there are better options with higher range. The debuff isn't too bad. (Ray of Frost)
Shape Water. Very situational, and mostly useless. You could potentially cross a body of water with this or something, but you could only have two blocks of ice at a time. (Shape Water)
Shocking Grasp. The best melee cantrip (well, almost only) that uses your spellcasting modifier. A very good option even for non-melee sorcerers, as you can run away afterwards (if it hits) without fear of triggering an AoO. The advantage against metal armor is just the icing on the cake. (Shocking Grasp)
Sword Burst. Eh, not bad. Force damage is pretty much the best possible type of damage, but it's low range and fairly low damage as well. The AoE is nice, but overall there are probably better options. (Sword Burst)
Thunderclap. Worse sword burst. (Thunderclap)
True Strike. There is no reason to ever take this. You can just attack once each turn and have the same probability of hitting at least once, while having a chance to do more damage. To top it all off, this requires concentration. (True Strike)
1st Level:
Many 1st level spells will remain useful even at higher levels, and there are some very important spells here. Don't discount them just because they might not do much damage.
Absorb Elements. A nice damage mitigation, especially against things that can't be blocked by shield. Not as good for non-melee sorcerers, as you don't get to take advantage of the extra damage. Overall given the small amount of spells you can choose as a sorcerer, there are probably better options. (Absorb Elements)
Burning Hands. This and thunderwave are your AoE spells. They aren't great, but they get the job done. Again though, there are probably better options. (Burning Hands)
Catapult. Very nice damage and range, but completely useless if the target makes their save. Still not a bad option at all. (Catapult)
Chaos Bolt. A very fun spell, especially for Wild Magic sorcerers. Probably not the best option, unfortunately. (Chaos Bolt)
Charm Person. If you're playing the part of a bard, not a bad choice. If you're not, let the bard do his job and stick to yours. (Charm Person)
Chromatic Orb. Not bad, especially with the damage type options. The material component is kind of a pain, however, and there are probably better options. (Chromatic Orb)
Color Spray. Not bad, but you're probably better off with sleep. (Color Spray)
Comprehend Languages. Very situational, and since you learn spells instead of preparing them it's not worth it for the ritual version either. (Comprehend Languages)
Detect Magic. Not too bad, but again the ritual property is less useful to you. If you really need this, see if the party wizard can take it before you do. (Detect Magic)
Disguise Self. Meh. Situational. (Disguise Self)
Earth Tremor. Eh, not really worth it. Thunderwave is probably a better bet for this kind of spell. (Earth Tremor)
Expeditious Retreat. Not bad especially at lower levels if you don't have anything better to be concentrating on, but probably not the best option. (Expeditious Retreat)
False Life. Nice survivability, but you're probably better off with mage armor or shield. (False Life)
Feather Fall. Very situational, but very very good at it's job. Which is very situational. (Feather Fall)
Fog Cloud. Eh. If you're a Shadow Sorcerer there's literally no reason to ever take this. (Fog Cloud)
Ice Knife. Decent damage, decent AoE, a good chance to do at least some damage. There are probably better options, though. (Ice Knife)
Jump. Why. Why would you ever need this. (Jump)
Mage Armor. Those better options I was talking about? This is it. This is a near necessity for lower level sorcerers who haven't multiclassed, otherwise your AC is stuck at at most a measly 13. Given your horrid hit points, this is a huge problem. However, if you are a Draconic Ancestry sorcerer DO NOT TAKE THIS EVER. It does the same thing as your level 1 class ability, and they don't stack and the ability is always there. (Mage Armor)
Magic Missile. I can't ever give this spell a bad rating, it's just too useful (and a true classic). Have a pesky heavily armored warrior buzzing around at low HP and you just can't seem to hit him? Magic missile. Want to make the wizard burn his spell slots on shield so he doesn't have to make a concentration save? Magic missile. Have something that's resistant to almost every type of damage? Well, chances are it's not resistant to Magic Missile™. All that being said, it is rather low damage even considering the auto hit. (Magic Missile)
Ray of Sickness. Meh. Too little chance to do its full effect, and not enough damage. (Ray of Sickness)
Shield. This is never, never a bad option for any spellcaster to take. +5 AC as a reaction is incredibly powerful, and I rarely make any sort of sorcerer or wizard without this spell. (Shield)
Silent Image. Minor illusion's big brother. Probably not worth it. (Silent Image)
Sleep. Very powerful at lower levels, when enemies don't have that many hit points. If you put a whole room to sleep, you can just finish everyone off at your leisure. It unfortunately doesn't scale too well. (Sleep)
Thunderwave. Decent AoE, although slightly less damage than burning hands. The pushback isn't too bad. (Thunderwave)
Witch Bolt. I used to be a fan of this spell,
but then I took one to the kneebut then I realized just how risky and limited it is. It's relatively low damage, and ends if they move away, you do anything else, or lose concentration. (Witch Bolt)2nd Level:
Most of the damage dealing spells at 2nd level aren't the greatest, but there are many very valuable defense and support spells to be found here.
Aganazzar's Scorcher: Not too bad, but also not that much better than something like thunderwave. It doesn't have much AoE without really great positioning, and it does fire damage (which is never a plus). (Aganazzar's Scorcher)
Alter Self: I mean, it's not bad. I don't really see many circumstances in which it's actually useful, though. Maybe against a lycanthrope or gargoyle or something at lower levels, but in that case you're better off using other spells and not trying to claw it to bits. (Alter Self)
Blindness/Deafness: This is a powerful debuff, but there's too many conditions for my liking. One, it's single target. Two, they can save at the end of their turn. Not to mention it's a Con save, one of the more common ones for monsters to be good at. (Blindness/Deafness)
Blur: This is a very good spell, but keep in mind it'll be outclassed at later levels by things like greater invisibility. You also might want your concentration for something else. If you're a shadow sorcerer there's not really any reason to take this. (Blur)
Cloud of Daggers: All in all, not horrible. The damage is relatively low and it requires concentration, but it is an auto hit spell. You have a guaranteed 8d4 slashing damage on one target, at least, but you can't move it. (Cloud of Daggers)
Crown of Madness: It sounds nice, but in practice does almost nothing. It takes an action to maintain, and they can easily just move away after making one attack and just wait to save out of it. (Crown of Madness)
Darkness: Eh. Slightly larger more versatile fog cloud. This easily becomes gold if you have access to a warlock's Devil Sight or similar ability, but otherwise it's not really worth taking. If you're a Shadow Magic sorcerer there's obviously no reason to ever take this, as you get it automatically. (Darkness)
Darkvision: Why spend a 2nd level spell slot on something a cantrip can do almost as well? (Darkvision)
Detect Thoughts: Great for roleplaying, not good for much else. If you have nothing better to take, might not be a bad option. (Detect Thoughts)
Dragon's Breath: Not a bad spell, especially if you use it on someone else so you don't have to waste your action. Does a decent amount of damage, has good AoE, varied damage types. (Dragon's Breath)
Dust Devil: There are much better spells to take then one that does the damage of a cantrip and pushes people a little. (Dust Devil)
Earthbind: Really not useful, especially since it doesn't even deal fall damage. If something's flying around that much, just shoot it down with ranged cantrips. (Earthbind)
Enhance Ability: Not bad, but also not really your job (unless you're a Divine Soul acting as a cleric, then it's not a bad choice). (Enhance Ability)
Enlarge/Redubce: Also not bad but not really your job. (Enlarge/Reduce)
Gust of Wind: You can spend a second level spell slot to and concentration to . . .push people away from you and have a 50% chance of blowing out lanterns. This is laughably bad. (Gust of Wind)
Hold Person: One of the best save or suck debuffs at earlier levels. Paralysis is an incredibly powerful condition, and Wis saves are a decent target against many humanoid monsters.
Invisibility: Not too bad, but concentration and it ending make it in general less useful and sustainable than blur. (Invisibility)
Knock: A second level spell slot to open locked doors. This is what rogues are for. (Knock)
Levitate: This can be hilarious against melee combatants without any ranged options, but is a bit too situational for my liking. (Levitate)
Maximilian's Earthen Grasp: Actually not a bad spell. Good debuff, and they have to spend an action to escape it. (Maximilian's Earthen Grasp)
Mind Spike: This spell is good not because it has a good debuff or terribly good damage, but because psychic damage is very rare, and psychic resistance is also not common. (Mind Spike)
Mirror Image: This spell is so good I'm convinced someone forgot to tack that pesky little "c" on it. 3 sources of potential free damage mitigation, and it doesn't even require concentration. Stack this with blur or Shadow Magic darkness for extra troll value. (Mirror Image)
Misty Step: A great panic GTFO option, especially as a squishy and as a bonus action. Not a bad option to take, although it doesn't go too far. (Misty Step)
Phantasmal Force: Decent effect, but low damage. If you really need psychic damage just go for mind spike. (Phantasmal Force)
Pyrotechnics: Neat, but mostly useless. (Pyrotechnics)
Scorching Ray: Definitely not bad, probably the best sheer damage option for level 2. Fire damage isn't ideal, but this has the most potential damage of any level two spell (if you hit, it is slightly more risky than most). This is better if you're a Draconic Ancestor sorcerer. (Scorching Ray)
See Invisibility: Really good for those pesky monsters that can turn invisible or go into the ethereal plane. You know, all three of them (obviously not an exact number, but still). (See Invisibility)
Shadow Blade: Very very nice spell for melee sorcerers, especially if you want a dex option. Note that you can attack a target in darkness with advantage, so if you don't have devil's sight or equivalent you can cancel your disadvantage. If you're not a melee sorcerer, probably not worth taking. (Shadow Blade)
Shatter: Better thunderwave. Definitely worth taking if you're a Storm Sorcerer, probably not worth it if you're not. (Shatter)
Snilloc's Snowball Storm: Decent damage, not very good AoE. There are better options for sheer damage. ([Tooltip Not Found])
Spider Climb: This is what climbing gear is for. The number of times this will actually be useful is very small. (Spider Climb)
Suggestion: If used carefully/creatively, this can be an extremely powerful spell. Note that the target only gets one save. If they fail that, they don't get any more chances unless damaged by you or your companions.
Warding Wind: You can do this better with either blur or darkness. There are just strictly better options. (Warding Wind)
Web: An extremely powerful map control tool. If you can position it well, you essentially block off a whole section of whatever arena you happen to be fighting in, or potentially slow a large group of enemies down for multiple turns. This is a classic for a reason. (Web)
3rd Level:
This is where many of your best options are, both for offense or defense. Blink, fireball, counterspell, you name it.
Blink: Yes. You read that right. You have a 50% chance of being undamagable until your next turn. And it doesn't require concentration. Enemies technically can ready attacks for you, but that's when other melee characters can keep them busy. Stack this with darkness or blur and mirror image to basically never get hit again.
Catnap: This will only very rarely be of any actual use. (Catnap)
Clairvoyance: Good for more socially oriented campaigns for spying or some such. Not really good for anything else. (Clairvoyance)
Counterspell: Very very good spell, especially in campaigns with a lot of mages (Or even PvP campaigns, if that's your sort of thing. I might make a separate guide at some point talking about the best strategies in those kinds of campaigns.). In my opinion it's a little better than dispel magic, although you can't go wrong with either of them. (Counterspell)
Daylight: Useful for countering darkness and not much else. (Daylight)
Dispel Magic: The reason I rate this lower than counterspell is often the most deadly spells aren't cast before combat starts, they're things like fireball or chain lightning that fire instantly. (Dispel Magic)
Enemies Abound: Very cool idea for a spell, and can really be effective if the target is positioned only near his allies. Might be better options. (Enemies Abound)
Erupting Earth: Decentish damage and AoE, but there are much better options. (Erupting Earth)
Fear: Fear is quite a powerful condition, and this spell does have good AoE. Not a bad option by any means. (Fear)
Fireball: Old faithful. Shoot it into a room of enemies and watch the world burn. Just be careful where you're aiming it, friendly fire is very easy. (Fireball)
Flame Arrows: Why are you using a bow? (Flame Arrows)
Fly: If you aren't using your concentration for something else, you can effortlessly avoid melee fighters for free. Or just cast this on the party archer and laugh at the carnage. Not a bad option, but probably not the best one. (Fly)
Gaseous Form: Not a bad panic option, I guess. You're probably better off with something like misty step, which is less situational and more all around useful. (Gaseous Form)
Haste: This is a candidate for quite possibly being the best buff in the game, at least at lower levels. There's not much it doesn't do, just make sure you can keep concentration on it. This is especially hilarious on melee fighters with huge burst damage like paladins. Slap this on and watch what's probably at least a 20 AC juggernaut run into the thick of things and oneshot everything while zooming everywhere. (Haste)
Hypnotic Pattern: You can just take an entire large group of enemies out of the fight until they take any damage. No reason this wouldn't be good, especially with only one saving throw. (Hypnotic Pattern)
Lightning Bolt: Old Faithful 2. Imo slightly worse than fireball due to the smaller AoE, but still very good. As a Storm Sorcerer, definitely take this over fireball. (Lightning Bolt)
Major Image: Minor illusion's even bigger brother. Not really worth the 3rd level spell slot. (Major Image)
Melf's Minute Meteors: Not too bad, but it does require concentration. You're probably better off with fireball just for instant damage. (Melf's Minute Meteors)
Protection from Energy: Not a bad spell, but unless you're a Divine Soul sorcerer this isn't your job. (Protection from Energy)
Sleet Storm: Not really worth the 3rd level spell slot. There are simply better options. (Sleet Storm)
Slow: Reverse haste, but AoE. Very good effect, but it isn't save or suck unfortunately. (Slow)
Stinking Cloud: Again, this isn't any better than just instant damage. (Stinking Cloud)
Thunder Step: Misty step but better. In literally every way, except action economy. (Thunder Step)
Tidal Wave: Oh no, I've been knocked prone. I might actually have to move three less spaces this turn. There are better options. (Tidal Wave)
Tongues: Very situational, and this isn't your job. (Tongues)
Wall of Water: Not really worth the spell slot, this can be accomplished in much easier and less costly ways. (Wall of Water)
Water Breathing: Very situational, and this isn't your job. (Water Breathing)
Water Walk: Very situational, and—wait, deja vu. Unless your character has a Jesus complex, not worth it. (Water Walk)
Onwards to the middle level spells!
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Spells (Part 2)
This part will go over 4th, 5th and 6th level spells. This is when you start to get fewer options, with more powerful effects.
4th Level:
Not really any important damage spells at this level, but there are some very important buffs and debuffs.
Banishment: Potentially removes one enemy from the fight for a full minute, as long as you stay back and don't get sniped. Save or sucks are almost always good. (Banishment)
Blight: Not worth the slightly increased damage for only a single target. Its secondary effect is way too situational to be of much use. (Blight)
Charm Monster: Not too bad, although there are probably better options. (Charm Monster)
Confusion: Very powerful AoE debuff. Banishment is better for smaller, stronger groups of enemies, while this is better for larger, weaker groups. (Confusion)
Dimension Door: The ultimate panic option, but the extra distance isn't really needed. Can be useful in some situations.
Dominate Beast: Very powerful effect, but beasts don't really make up a large subset of monsters you'll be fighting in most campaigns. Chances are if they do they're weak enough that dominating them isn't too useful. (Dominate Beast)
Greater Invisibility: Darkness but you don't need to be a Shadow sorcerer or a warlock, and it doesn't hinder your teammates. Or you can give it to your rogue for extra lols. Not gold because it's concentration, but it's very close.
Ice Storm: The added effect is not worth the worse damage. (Ice Storm)
Polymorph: Very very powerful. At level 7 when you'll most likely get this, you can change any party member into a giant ape and essentially give them 157 extra hit points. At level 8, you can fulfill every fighter's secret dream and transform them into a tyrannosaurus rex. This is not only hilarious, but extremely powerful. (Polymorph)
Sickening Radiance: Exhaustion is a very powerful debuff, and I don't actually think there are any other spells that apply it. Radiant damage is also a very good damage type to have, and it has good AoE. (Sickening Radiance)
Stoneskin: At level 7, chances are you're going to be running into a lot of creatures with magical damage. Not too useful, especially considering you could just use blur for a lower spell slot and a possibly better effect. (Stoneskin)
Storm Sphere: Not a bad option, especially for Storm Sorcerers. Any spell that does damage as a bonus action is always nice. (Storm Sphere)
Vitriolic Sphere: Not bad damage and AoE, and acid damage isn't the worst damage type to have. (Vitriolic Sphere)
Wall of Fire: If you have a good position for it, this could be incredibly potent. That being said, those positions are relatively rare so this spell is fairly situational. (Wall of Fire)
Watery Sphere: You could use this, or you could just use hold person. Not really worth it. (Watery Sphere)
5th Level:
Some truly amazing spells in this level. There really aren't many bad options.
Animate Objects: Not only is there nothing more hilarious then stabbing a dragon to death with an army of animated forks, it's actually quite effective. The best course of action is usually to animate 10 Tiny or Small objects, and having an extra 10 creatures in your party all of a sudden is very very strong. And it's just hilarious. (Animate Objects)
Cloudkill: Not too bad, but there are much stronger options to be had at this level. (Cloudkill)
Cone of Cold: High damage, and absolutely massive AoE. Nothing not to like here. Obviously becomes even better for a Draconic Ancestry sorcerer using white or silver. (Cone of Cold)
Control Winds: Why would you ever choose this over literally anything else this level. (Control Winds)
Creation: Not bad, but fairly situational. Note that you can make adamantine weapons if you so choose. (Creation)
Dominate Person: Remember when I said that dominate beast was an extremely powerful effect but not really worth it on a beast? Here you go. Dominate the archmage and have fun. Maybe shouldn't have phrased it like that. (Dominate Person)
Enervation: Witch bolt but much much better. Still risky if you miss your first attack. (Enervation)
Far Step: Misty step but on multiple steroids and repeatable. If you really need to go fast, this is your spell. (Far Step)
Hold Monster: Hold person is one of the best spells, and this just makes sure you can use it on everything. (Hold Monster)
Immolation: Not too bad, but risky. Especially as it's only single target. (Immolation)
Insect Plague: Good area control and decent damage. Not bad. (Insect Plague)
Seeming: This probably isn't your job, and it's quite situational. (Seeming)
Skill Empowerment: Very situational, but very useful when it is useful. The amount of times skill checks matter enough to warrant this spell is low, though. And this probably isn't your job. (Skill Empowerment)
Synaptic Static: Fireball but with a great debuff and a much better damage type. (Synaptic Static)
Telekinesis: There are some really great things you can do with the spell, but at the end of the day it's still pretty situational. (Telekinesis)
Teleportation Circle: Useful, but situational. Let your wizard take it if you really need it (since it's a ritual). (Teleportation Circle)
Wall of Light: Radiant damage is always good, but I'm always hesitant to recommend wall spells due to their situational nature. Not too bad of an option, I guess. (Wall of Light)
Wall of Stone: If for some reason you need a panic fortress, here you go. Not many times you'll need that. (Wall of Stone)
6th Level:
Arcane Gate: Teleportation is always nice to a point, but it still is fairly situational. You don't really need this spell for anything. (Arcane Gate)
Chain Lightning: Massive damage, and decent AoE. Never a bad option. (Chain Lightning)
Circle of Death: Fireball but necrotic damage and larger. Most of the time, you won't need something quite this large and it would just be more efficient to use fireball. (Circle of Death)
Disintegrate: Great spell, but risky. It does massive single target damage (force damage too) and prevents resurrection, but it also completely wastes a spell slot if you miss. (Disintegrate)
Eyebite: Not worth it. You're better off using lower level spells that cause only one of the effects but are better at it. (Eyebite)
Globe of Invulnerability: Very good panic option against large amounts of mages. A little situational since not all fights will have a mage in them, but still good nonetheless. (Globe of Invulnerability)
Investitures: Lumping all the investitures as one because I'm lazy. As a rule they aren't really worth it, and seem like they should be lower level spells. (Investiture of Flame, Investiture of Ice, Investiture of Flame, Investiture of Stone, Investiture of Wind)
Mass Suggestion: Suggestion is a very powerful spell, and making it AoE is understandably good. (Mass Suggestion)
Mental Prison: Extremely powerful single target save or suck, with the added benefit of dealing psychic damage. Note that you have a guaranteed 5d10 psychic damage even if they succeed on the save. (Mental Prison)
Move Earth: You can call down massive bolts of lightning, make yourself invulnerable to most magic, or become the world's best excavator. Your choice. (Move Earth)
Scatter: While this is hilarious, it's also mostly useless. (Scatter)
Sunbeam: Very nice damage option, especially thematically for Divine Souls. Radiant damage is always great, and for a repeatable AoE the damage itself is quite high. (Sunbeam)
True Seeing: Not bad if you're fighting against of lot of creatures that go invisible or have features like that of a displacer beast. Still pretty situational. (True Seeing)
Now for the true heavy hitters . . .
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
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Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Spells (Part 3)
This part will go over 7th, 8th and 9th level spells. You really have fewer options now, and it's very rare to find a bad one.
7th Level:
Crown of Stars: Very high overall damage (and radiant damage to boot), and it doesn't require concentration. Never a bad choice (and it just looks cool). (Crown of Stars)
Delayed Blast Fireball: Not too bad an option, as even if you don't delay it it still has the damage of a fireball cast with a 7th level slot. The max damage this can reach is 22d6, which while massive isn't really practically possible since that requires you to keep concentration for 10 rounds, by the end of which most combats are over. (Delayed Blast Fireball)
Etherealness: Could be a really panicky panic option, I guess. Or good against a very specific subset of monsters. Still situational. (Etherealness)
Finger of Death: Yeah this is kind of just worse disintegrate. Sure, it turns into a zombie, but is that really useful at at least level 13? I guess it's slightly less risky since it at least does half damage, but it still overall does less damage. (Finger of Death)
Fire Storm: If you need a hilariously large amount of things dead, here you go. Anytime you don't need 30 cubic feet of sheer flames, not your go to. Most times I'd just say go with Delayed Blast Fireball instead. (Fire Storm)
Plane Shift: Panic option or situational tool for pursuit/plot advancing. Can also be used as a melee banishment that doesn't require concentration, which isn't bad. (Plane Shift)
Power Word Pain: While this is a powerful debuff, there are relatively few enemies worth using this on that have under 100 hit points. (Power Word Pain) (Power Word Pain)
Prismatic Spray: Decent damage and large AoE with some nice conditions tacked on. Not a bad option. (Prismatic Spray)
Reverse Gravity: Hilarious and actually very good. Be very careful of friendly fire, fall damage is unforgiving. (Reverse Gravity)
Teleport: If you really need to be at a particular place ASAP, here you go. Still situational as a non panic teleport. Very nice panic option combined with contingency, which unfortunately is a wizard exclusive. (Teleport)
Whirlwind: God, why are all the wind spells so bad. This just is strictly worse than other similar spells. (Whirlwind)
8th Level:
Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting: Despite having a great name, not really all that useful. Worse damage than an upcast fireball and not much better AoE, with some situational benefits. (Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting)
Dominate Monster: Dominate person but it now works on everything. (Dominate Monster)
Earthquake: Not really all that useful, and surprisingly low damage. Could maybe be useful in very specific situations. (Earthquake)
Incendiary Cloud: Fireball but it lasts for forever and does slightly less damage (than it with an equivalent spell slot, at least). Definitely not a bad option. (Incendiary Cloud)
Power Word Stun: No. Single target stun that only works below 150 hit points is just not worth an 8th level slot. (Power Word Stun)
Sunburst: Decent damage and very good AoE, with a few decent but situational riders. Also not a bad pick. (Sunburst)
9th Level:
Gate: Like most teleport spells, situational. You can also summon a demon or something if you really want to and have its name (which is rare). Given the cost of the component as well, there are probably better options. (Gate)
Mass Polymorph: Hilarious and good. Note than unlike polymorph it's CR equal to half their level. (Mass Polymorph)
Meteor Swarm: The range of this spell is literally a mile. You can be basically way over 30 turns of movement (probably) from something and just nuke it. Massive damage as well, truly a classic. (Meteor Swarm)
Power Word Kill: I'm on the fence about this one. One hand, it's a free 100 damage, no questions asked. On the other hand, most monsters worth using this on have more than a 100 health, and you'll just end up wasting a slot. You're probably better off just nuking it with meteor swarm. (Power Word Kill)
Psychic Scream: Less damage and AoE than meteor swarm, but way more controllable and a better damage type. And, Intelligence saving throws are very uncommon, and most monsters don't have good bonuses towards them. (Psychic Scream)
Time Stop: Undeniably powerful, but slightly situational. You could potentially combo this with delayed blast fireball, while using the rest of your free turns to cast non concentration buffs on yourself. (Time Stop)
Wish: This spell basically lets you do whatever you want. That's never a bad thing. (Wish)
Now let's get to the really juicy stuff—multiclassing.
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Multiclassing
As a sorcerer, you have many powerful options (and are a powerful option yourself). Note that Charisma spellcasters are the most common type of spellcaster, so you'll have an easier time of it than wizards. I'll go over what I think of multiclassing to each class, and I'll post some example builds at the end of this guide, some utilizing multiclassing.
Multiclassing Evaluation:
Artificer: I unfortunately know next to nothing about this class, and won't be going over it in this guide.
Barbarian: Not for you. You rely too much on spells.
Bard: Not a bad option, as another Charisma full caster. Could be some nice synergy especially with Divine Soul, where you have access to Bard, Cleric and Sorcerer spells.
Cleric: A good option for flavor (think Storm Sorcerer and Tempest Domain), but generally not the best mechanically since clerics use Wisdom.
Druid: Meh. Wisdom spellcaster, and not too many synergistic traits, especially since you can't cast spells in Wild Shape until much later levels.
Fighter: Never a bad option to multiclass in, especially if you take this at level 1 for heavy armor proficiency. If you do take it, I'd recommend just one or two levels. Defense is generally the best option to take for a Fighting Style.
Monk: Eh, not enough needed ability scores in common, and a melee class to boot. I guess there are worse options.
Paladin: Sorcerer paladins, or sorcadins, are quite possibly the strongest possible combination of classes in the game. I'll probably make a full guide on just sorcadins at some point, but to sum it up: you get more spell slots for divine smite, you get booming blade as a melee fighter, an AC higher than a god's, and you get some truly amazing combinations and early level paladin abilities like Aura of Protection. If I could rate this higher than gold I would.
Ranger: Same as monk, although not a melee class so much.
Rogue: Not the worst option, but sneak attack doesn't apply to spells.
Warlock: Definitely a great option, especially if you aren't a Shadow Magic sorcerer and want to pick up Devil's Sight. There are many other great lower level Invocations as well, like free false life or free mage armor. And, Hexblade can make a great one level dip for sorcadins or similar builds who don't want to worry about Strength.
Wizard: Not the worst, but Intelligence isn't really a stat you have any use for.
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Feats
Feats are very powerful tools, especially for multiclassing builds. I'll go over which ones are worth it (although I won't be covering Dragonmarks, again due to lack of experience). Note that as a sorcerer, it's perfectly fine to just take a +2 Charisma bonus instead of a Feat.
Feats:
Actor: +1 Charisma is decent, but +2 Charisma is better.
Alert: Not ever getting surprised is very nice, and +5 initiative is good for any class. There are still probably more pressing feats to take.
Athlete: You're a mage, not an athlete.
Bountiful Luck: If you're a halfling (especially a support build like a Divine Soul), not a bad option at all. If you're not, sucks to be you.
Charger: You should be running away from the enemy, not towards them.
Crossbow Expert: Who needs crossbows when you have fire?
Defensive Duelist: You have shield. You don't need this, although it is slightly better than shield at very high levels.
Dragon Fear: Fear isn't bad, and dragonborns work well with sorcerers. If you're not a dragonborn, keep reading.
Dragon Hide: If you're a dragonborn but not a Draconic Ancestry sorcerer, this is a very good option.
Drow High Magic: Dispel magic is very good, and at will detect magic is pretty decent as well. If you're a drow.
Dual Wielder: You probably aren't wielding, nor are you dual.
Dungeon Delver: Never a bad option to take, but not a good one either. And probably not your job.
Durable: Only useful in certain niche builds, and probably not for you.
Dwarven Fortitude: This is honestly one of the best feats in the game, but dwarven sorcerers are rare. If you are a dwarf, can't really go wrong with this feat.
Elemental Adept: Very very good when paired with Draconic Ancestry. Not as good otherwise, but not bad.
Elven Accuracy: If you're an elf or half-elf and you're abusing darkness, you will basically never miss with this feat. This is gold.
Fade Away: Reactionary invisibility isn't bad, if you're a gnome.
Fey Teleportation: Free misty step and a Charisma boost. If you plan on taking this, might want to make your Charisma an odd number when you're first assigning ability scores.
Firearm Specialist (if you're using CR): Who needs guns when you have magic?
Flames of Phlegethos: Flames of Phlegm is never a bad option. I don't know this for sure, but it might stack with Elemental Adept so you can reroll 1s twice.
Grappler: This is not your job.
Great Weapon Master: You don't need the be the master of a weapon, that's what spells are for.
Healer: This is probably not your job. If you're a Divine Soul, you could consider getting this.
Heavy Armor Master: Not bad if you have heavy armor proficiency, but this probably isn't your job. Better for sorcadins, but it also isn't as good at later levels.
Heavy Armor Master: If you do have heavy armor proficiency, this is . . .not horrible.
Infernal Constitution: You don't really need this, but I guess it's not bad.
Inspiring Leader: This probably isn't your job, but it's not bad.
Keen Mind: You don't care about any of these things.
Lightly Armored: Just take a level of fighter or warlock or almost any other class. This is completely not worth it.
Linguist: Situational and not your job.
Lucky: Never a bad feat for anyone to take.
Mage Slayer: Why are you in melee combat?
Magic Initiate: Not bad, but not necessary.
Martial Adept: You're not martial, and you definitely don't need to be an adept.
Medium Armor Master: If you care about AC that much, be a sorcadin or start with a level of fighter.
Mobile: Not bad, but you shouldn't be melee attacking much in the first place.
Moderately Armored: Just as useless as the other two.
Mounted Combatant: Could be good if you're a sorcadin with find steed.
Observant: You don't care about this.
Orcish Fury: You aren't a melee fighter probably.
Polearm Master: Why use polearms when you have spells?
Prodigy: You probably don't care about this.
Resilient: This is good for other casters without Constitution saving throw proficiency, but as a sorcerer you already start with this proficiency.
Ritual Caster: Not too bad, but not necessary.
Savage Attacker: You don't need this.
Second Chance: Not a bad panic option with a nice ability score boost.
Sentinel: Not your job.
Sharpshooter: Not your job.
Shield Master: Not your job.
Skilled: Not your job, and not that useful in the first place.
Skulker: Not your job, but potentially useful.
Spell Sniper: Not half bad, although you don't normally need more range. Ignoring most cover is nice.
Squat Nimbleness: You don't really need this, and there are better options.
Svirfneblin magic: You don't really need this, and there are better options.
Tavern Brawler: This is not your job.
Tough: Never a bad thing for any character, but this probably isn't your job.
War Caster: Much better for sorcadins than normal sorcerers, but even just the advantage on Con saves is nothing to scoff at.
Weapon Master: This isn't your job.
Wood Elf Magic: Longstrider isn't bad, but there are better options.
Now comes the fun part (for me)—builds.
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Build Examples
Here's a example of a build for each subclass. These aren't necessarily all optimized or anything, some are just fun, interesting or thematic. All of these builds will be at level 20, but I'll give suggestions for order of leveling.
Divine Soul (Ultimate support build):
Here's a sample Divine Soul, mostly meant for support. You can use different spells if you want, didn't try to min max too much. I took Aasimar because they make good sorcerers, and have good support abilities. Multiclassed into Celestial Warlock for Devil's Sight darkness and some more support focused abilities, and into Life Domain Cleric for 1 level for Disciple of Life (you can take another level instead of either a sorcerer or warlock level to get the Channel Divinity if you want, but I wanted the level 6 warlock ability and 7th level spells). Took Healer for obvious reasons, and War Caster so if I needed to get up close I could keep concentration more reliably, and so I could cast component/somatic spells while using a shield. Wearing half-plate and a shield for the slightly better AC (don't have the strength for plate), can reach 23 with shield. Keep in mind this build is without any magic items.
This build has great healing potential, good buffs and debuffs, and decent damage output if needed. Very versatile, and with decent survivability for a spellcaster. Only weaknesses are no level 8 or 9 slots, and no higher level sorcerer abilities (namely the level 18 Divine Soul one).
Here's a link to the sheet:
Therorth
Draconic Ancestor (Classic Almost Full Sorcerer, Survivability/Support/Damage):
Here's a sample Draconic Ancestor (Red/Gold) build, mostly damage with some tanky options and a few twists. Again, these spells are interchangeable. Took the two levels of Rogue really just for fun and Cunning Action, as the last couple sorcerer levels aren't really too necessary. Took Elemental Adept (Fire) for the nice synergy, and Tough because why not. Also took different spells than I might normally due to Elemental Adept and Elemental Affinity. Not too much else to say here, it's a pretty straight forward build. AC can reach 22 with shield, and I took mirror image as well. Again, no magic items used.
This build's main strengths are high damage, good survivability and some nice overall quality of life options like Expertise and Cunning Action (especially since he has a flying speed). Only weaknesses are a slight lack of some powerful debuffs/buffs (due to me taking more fire spells than usual), and not much strength up close.
Here's a link to the sheet:
Pimkas Underbough
Shadow Magic (Half Sorcadin, less Pally levels than I would normally recommend since this is a sorcerer guide, Damage and Tanky):
Here's a sample Shadow Magic build, with some paladin and warlock thrown in. This isn't a full sorcadin, and not what I'd recommend if you want to go that route, but it's extremely powerful nonetheless. Spells are mostly interchangeable as always. I'm using high half elf (even though I didn't rate it that well) to get booming blade at an earlier level, as it isn't based off of your spellcasting modifier. I took two levels of paladin for divine smite, pally spells like bless and shield of faith if you're not using your concentration for darkness for some reason, and took it as my starting class for heavy armor proficiency. Took 1 level of warlock so I could abuse Hexblade's ability to use their Charisma mod for melee attacks (this is very important, both so I can mostly ignore strength, and also to activate Elven Accuracy), as well as for eldritch blast and armor of agathys. I took War Caster for advantage on concentration and casting while my hands are full (pretty much obligatory in this build), as well as Elven Accuracy. The reason Elven Accuracy is so good in this build is a combination of a couple of things. One, you can use darkness to have nearly permanent advantage on all attacks. Two, Hexblade allows you to use Charisma for your melee attacks, and Elven Accuracy wouldn't work if you were using Strength. Thus, you have super advantage on pretty much all attacks you make, and pretty much every attack against you will have disadvantage. Took plate and a shield for the AC (obviously), which is either 26 with shield or an absurd 28 with no magic items, shield of faith and shield. I'd generally recommend darkness instead of shield of faith, but there are situations where it will be more beneficial to let your allies actually see what's going on (well, maybe). As always, no magic items are used, but you can easily get up to a 23 or higher base AC with a couple of uncommon items. With +3 plate, a +3 shield, a cloak of protection, and a ring of protection your base AC is 29, with your max AC being a whopping 36 (yes, that's 13 higher than a Tarrasque's).
This build's strengths are insane burst damage and accuracy (17 slots just of the levels able to be used for divine smite), great buffs/debuffs, ridiculous AC, and the versatile spellcasting of a sorcerer in a melee fighter. Really the only downsides are no level 18 sorcerer ability (and the Shadow Magic one is very good), and relatively low hit points for a melee fighter (although with your AC that shouldn't matter much).
Here's a link to the sheet:
Nilben
Storm Sorcerer (With a dash of Tempest Cleric for theme and synergy, Damage):
Here's a sample Storm Sorcerer build, with a little cleric mixed in. Took Protector Aasimar for the Wisdom and Charisma boost mostly, even though I wouldn't normally recommend it. Took two levels of Tempest Domain, you can also take three if you want second level cleric spells (spiritual weapon is very very good). I would always recommend at least two so you get the Channel Divinity, which is . . .ridiculous. I don't completely know if it works with every roll of chain lightning or not (my guess is it doesn't based on the phrasing), but that's still at least 40 free lightning damage that ignores resistance (if it does apply to every bolt, that's at least 40 free damage to up to 7 targets). Speaking of which, I took Elemental Adept (Lightning) for obvious reasons (you can take Thunder but fewer spells deal thunder damage), and War Caster for the usual reasons. Half-plate and a shield for better AC (19 base, 24 with shield and 26 with shield of faith)).
The strengths of this build are very high damage (multiple abilities allowing for rerolls), the ability to frequently punish those who manage to hit you (Storm's Fury and Wrath of the Storm), and AoE damage around you when casting lightning/thunder spells (Heart of the Storm). You also have great maneuverability due to Wind Soul's flying speed, and a plethora of resistances and immunities (radiant and necrotic resist as an Aasimar, thunder and lightning immunity from Wind Soul (or at least resistance if you take more cleric levels instead)). Main downsides are basically just the fact that Storm Sorcerers aren't the best subclass overall, some possible difficulties at lower levels with survivability, and relatively low hit points.
Here's a link to the sheet:
Sanos
Wild Magic (Going full sorcerer on this one, and just appreciating the chaos):
Here's a sample Wild Magic build. Spells are interchangeable as always. Took Levistus Tiefling just because it's a solid choice. No multiclassing here, wanted one pure sorcerer build. I took Flames of Phlegethos because it's useful, Lucky because it's always good and it feeds into the whole chaos theme, and War Caster because there's really no reason not to. No armor since I didn't multiclass, so your AC will be 15 with mage armor, 20 with shield.
Strengths are versatile sorcerer casting and AoE damage around you. Weaknesses are no armor from multiclassing, and just nothing really spectacular about this build in general. There's not really anything that especially stands out.
Here's a link to the sheet:
Skamarir
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
I hope you enjoyed this sorcerer guide. Please feel free to ask any questions you might have, or give feedback or other build ideas. Anything is welcome.
From the poll results above, it looks like I'll be doing a Bard guide next. I'll post some more different options in the poll for that one.
Happy adventuring.
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
it quoted strangely but you but heavy armor master twice instead of heavily armored
I am leader of the yep cult:https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/82135-yep-cult Pronouns are she/her
Whoops. Heavy Armor Master is definitely better than heavily armored.
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
the best part of this is that there's very little stopping you from summoning multiple of them.
Well, it can get a little costly sorcery point wise if you're not too high level yet. But yeah.
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Shadow magic sorcerers can only see through their own darkness if they cast it with sorcery points. At higher levels where you have more of them is not such a big deal, but it's a big ask at third level. I actually made a tiefling shadow magic sorcerer multiclassed hexblade warlock for the medium armor and shield proficiencies and devil's sight. I cast darkness with my racial trait and stood in my personal pool of darkness with my 19 AC at level five with Shield ready if I needed it. Plus warlock spell slots are great for converting into sorcery points since they're a consistent level and come back on a short rest. Metamagic all day long.
This is true, but you can also just convert a spell slot into sorcery points and cast it that way. Could be mistaken, but I think you can just bonus action use a 1st level spell slot to get 2 points, then burn them on darkness immediately.
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
A fair point. I hadn't considered that. Either way works.