Starting a new character at level 4. I want to make a Sorlock and looking for some advice.
Here's what I have so far
Rolled stats with all modifiers
Strength 11
Dexterity 16
Constitution 18
Intelligence 12
Wisdom 10
Charisma 20
Half Elf - Drow
Going 3 Warlock pact of the tome and the rest Shadow Sorcerer. Started with 1 level of Sorcerer then took 3 levels of warlock and will going the rest as Sorcerer.
Took The Archfey as the patron
Which spells, Cantrips, Eldritch invocations, pact boon spells etc. would you suggest not just for where I'm at but as I level up?
I should mention that I'm using D&D Beyond so the only books I have access to are the basic rules, the PHB, DMG, Elemental Evil player's companion, Sword coast adventurer's guide, Volo's guide to monsters, Curse of Strahd character options, Xanathar's and Tasha's
Eldritch Blast (Cantrip), Agonizing Blast (Invocation), and Quickened Spell (Metamagic) are all but required for a powerful sorlock. You can quicken Eldritch Blast, allowing you to double the amount of beams you blast. Beyond that, I recommend Devil's Sight (Invocation), Eldritch Mind (Invocation), or Repelling Blast (Invocation) for your second invocation. For other Metamagic options, Twinned Spell (Metamagic), Seeking Spell (Metamagic), and Empowered Spell (Metamagic) are all great choices. Subtle Spell (Metamagic) is another good one, as is Careful Spell (Metamagic). Elven Accuracy (Feat) is a fantastic choice for a sorlock, since it essentially gives you triple advantage (Re-rolling 1 of 2d20 is functionally the same as rolling 3d20, assuming you re-roll the lower of the two dice.)
You don’t need Devil’s Sight, since you already have 120 foot Dark Vision and will see through your special sorcerer point darkness. Take Book of Ancient Secrets instead, and Agonizing Blast.
Don’t take any damaging spells unless they’re (A) large AOEs that are likely to do 20ish+ damage to 4 or more targets (anything less than that your Agonizing Eldritch Blast will likely handle better), or (B) have powerful debuffs to compromise bosses. As a shadow sorcerer, save-based spells against a single boss monster is your specialty, so select spells that do that (e.g. Hold Monster) or buff you (e.g. Fly) or solve problems (e.g. Counterspell), but leave your default round-to-round damage solution to Eldritch Blast.
Absolutely take the shield spell. I agree with what other said, about not needing devil's sight, and that you should take agonizing blast.
Eldritch mind is a strong consideration. It alleviates much of the need for the war caster feat, so you can spend level 4 on an ASI bump or a different feat that you want. It's actually better (for concentration) because war caster only applies if you're rolling due to damage.
Don't forget that they'll have sorcerer slots too. This means that actually taking some of those level 1 lock spells that don't upcast well is now a consideration. For example, faerie fire from your patron list is a great spell, but one I would hesitate to cast with level 2 or higher slots. It is a good way to generate advantage on creatures that can be more party friendly than darkness/devil's sight (sorc sight) combo.
Starting a new character at level 4. I want to make a Sorlock and looking for some advice.
Here's what I have so far
Rolled stats with all modifiers
Strength 11
Dexterity 16
Constitution 18
Intelligence 12
Wisdom 10
Charisma 20
Half Elf - Drow
Going 3 Warlock pact of the tome and the rest Shadow Sorcerer. Started with 1 level of Sorcerer then took 3 levels of warlock and will going the rest as Sorcerer.
Took The Archfey as the patron
Which spells, Cantrips, Eldritch invocations, pact boon spells etc. would you suggest not just for where I'm at but as I level up?
Thanks in advance for your help
The Archfey is a particularly bad patron for this - even if you're using Shadow Sorcerer to avoid needing the Devil's Sight invocation, you're still leaning into not being seen as a core combat mechanic, meaning frightened is particularly less useful for you than it is for others. An example better Patron would be Genie, from Tasha's, but Hexblade, from Xanathar's could also do some very strong work. That said, answering the question as asked, I'll end up echoing some people already in this thread:
Cantrips: You know nine. 2 Warlock, 4 Sorcerer, 3 Any:
Warlock
Eldritch Blast
Create Bonfire
Sorcerer
Mage Hand
Mind Sliver
Minor Illusion
Shape Water
Any
Guidance
Lightning Lure
Thorn Whip
Invocations: You know 2, and have radically reduced use for Devil's Sight:
Agonizing Blast or Book of Ancient Secrets
If BOA, you need to pick at least 2 ritual spells (you get 2 base, and you have to ask your DM what you can have encountered before the campaign begins).
Detect Magic
Find Familiar
Repelling Blast
Warlock Spells Known: You have 4, and they're locked in forever, but you can cast them with Sorcerer slots.
Armor of Agathys
Cloud of Daggers
Hex
Misty Step
Sorcerer spells known:
Absorb Elements
Shield
Your primary talents are or will be that you can wrap yourself in Darkness that you can see through and you can combine a leveled spell or cantrip with a cantrip on your turn via the Quickened metamagic, which means you can do things like manifest a battlefield hazard (including Darkness) and move an enemy relative to the hazard as you see fit - hence you see Repelling Blast, Thorn Whip, and Lightning Lure above, combined with Create Bonfire and Cloud of Daggers. Due to your design constraints we have no practical way to get Spiked Growth or Spirit Guardians on you, but c'est la vie. As you level, continue to lean into these as your core competencies. Don't forget you can also combine Mind Sliver with a save-resisted effect, such as Fey Presence, Create Bonfire, or Lightning Lure.
So, if you are a Pact of the Tome/Book of Ancient Secrets Warlock multi-class with Cleric, could you take the cleric rituals as your daily spells and then add then to your Tome/Book or do you need to encounter them in some written form to do this?
So, if you are a Pact of the Tome/Book of Ancient Secrets Warlock multi-class with Cleric, could you take the cleric rituals as your daily spells and then add then to your Tome/Book or do you need to encounter them in some written form to do this?
Technically DM discretion - depends on how your DM interprets "find". But I would think most DMs would agree you've found any spell you currently have known or prepared.
The way that the Warlock adds spells to their Ritual Tome, is probably RAI the same way that a Wizard adds spells to their Spell Book. Both use the same loosey-goosey "find" language, that doesn't make clear whether its RAI that you find a written copy of a spell, or any version of the spell (including just having it held in your mind and "known" or already "prepared" from some other source).
There's an edge Wizard case that I think makes clear that you can "find" a spell in your own head: when a Wizard loses their own spellbook, they are left with the spells prepared that they had prepared that day. "If you lose your spellbook, you can use the same procedure to transcribe the spells that you have prepared into a new spellbook..."
Whether or not you think that lets multiclass Wizards launder prepared Cleric spells that are on the Wizard Spell List into their spellbook just by preparing them.... should probably be the same ruling as whether you would allow a multiclass Warlock to launder prepared Cleric ritual spells into their Ritual Tome. But a DM may be more favorable toward that than the Wizard exploit.
Hope this is the right forum for this post.
Starting a new character at level 4. I want to make a Sorlock and looking for some advice.
Here's what I have so far
Rolled stats with all modifiers
Strength 11
Dexterity 16
Constitution 18
Intelligence 12
Wisdom 10
Charisma 20
Half Elf - Drow
Going 3 Warlock pact of the tome and the rest Shadow Sorcerer. Started with 1 level of Sorcerer then took 3 levels of warlock and will going the rest as Sorcerer.
Took The Archfey as the patron
Which spells, Cantrips, Eldritch invocations, pact boon spells etc. would you suggest not just for where I'm at but as I level up?
Thanks in advance for your help
I should mention that I'm using D&D Beyond so the only books I have access to are the basic rules, the PHB, DMG, Elemental Evil player's companion, Sword coast adventurer's guide, Volo's guide to monsters, Curse of Strahd character options, Xanathar's and Tasha's
Eldritch Blast (Cantrip), Agonizing Blast (Invocation), and Quickened Spell (Metamagic) are all but required for a powerful sorlock. You can quicken Eldritch Blast, allowing you to double the amount of beams you blast. Beyond that, I recommend Devil's Sight (Invocation), Eldritch Mind (Invocation), or Repelling Blast (Invocation) for your second invocation. For other Metamagic options, Twinned Spell (Metamagic), Seeking Spell (Metamagic), and Empowered Spell (Metamagic) are all great choices. Subtle Spell (Metamagic) is another good one, as is Careful Spell (Metamagic). Elven Accuracy (Feat) is a fantastic choice for a sorlock, since it essentially gives you triple advantage (Re-rolling 1 of 2d20 is functionally the same as rolling 3d20, assuming you re-roll the lower of the two dice.)
You don’t need Devil’s Sight, since you already have 120 foot Dark Vision and will see through your special sorcerer point darkness. Take Book of Ancient Secrets instead, and Agonizing Blast.
Don’t take any damaging spells unless they’re (A) large AOEs that are likely to do 20ish+ damage to 4 or more targets (anything less than that your Agonizing Eldritch Blast will likely handle better), or (B) have powerful debuffs to compromise bosses. As a shadow sorcerer, save-based spells against a single boss monster is your specialty, so select spells that do that (e.g. Hold Monster) or buff you (e.g. Fly) or solve problems (e.g. Counterspell), but leave your default round-to-round damage solution to Eldritch Blast.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
What spells do you suggest with the book of ancient secrets?
All of them. Start with Find Familiar and Detect Magic, probably, but copy every 1st and 2nd level Ritual you find or can buy from then on.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Absolutely take the shield spell. I agree with what other said, about not needing devil's sight, and that you should take agonizing blast.
Eldritch mind is a strong consideration. It alleviates much of the need for the war caster feat, so you can spend level 4 on an ASI bump or a different feat that you want. It's actually better (for concentration) because war caster only applies if you're rolling due to damage.
Warlocks don’t have enough spell slots to make Shield useful.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Don't forget that they'll have sorcerer slots too. This means that actually taking some of those level 1 lock spells that don't upcast well is now a consideration. For example, faerie fire from your patron list is a great spell, but one I would hesitate to cast with level 2 or higher slots. It is a good way to generate advantage on creatures that can be more party friendly than darkness/devil's sight (sorc sight) combo.
Sorcerer do, and the thread is about building a sorlock (sorcerer and Warlock multi-class)
The Archfey is a particularly bad patron for this - even if you're using Shadow Sorcerer to avoid needing the Devil's Sight invocation, you're still leaning into not being seen as a core combat mechanic, meaning frightened is particularly less useful for you than it is for others. An example better Patron would be Genie, from Tasha's, but Hexblade, from Xanathar's could also do some very strong work. That said, answering the question as asked, I'll end up echoing some people already in this thread:
Your primary talents are or will be that you can wrap yourself in Darkness that you can see through and you can combine a leveled spell or cantrip with a cantrip on your turn via the Quickened metamagic, which means you can do things like manifest a battlefield hazard (including Darkness) and move an enemy relative to the hazard as you see fit - hence you see Repelling Blast, Thorn Whip, and Lightning Lure above, combined with Create Bonfire and Cloud of Daggers. Due to your design constraints we have no practical way to get Spiked Growth or Spirit Guardians on you, but c'est la vie. As you level, continue to lean into these as your core competencies. Don't forget you can also combine Mind Sliver with a save-resisted effect, such as Fey Presence, Create Bonfire, or Lightning Lure.
True, it was late at night and I forgot what I was replying to :p
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
So, if you are a Pact of the Tome/Book of Ancient Secrets Warlock multi-class with Cleric, could you take the cleric rituals as your daily spells and then add then to your Tome/Book or do you need to encounter them in some written form to do this?
Technically DM discretion - depends on how your DM interprets "find". But I would think most DMs would agree you've found any spell you currently have known or prepared.
That is very RAI debatable :)
The way that the Warlock adds spells to their Ritual Tome, is probably RAI the same way that a Wizard adds spells to their Spell Book. Both use the same loosey-goosey "find" language, that doesn't make clear whether its RAI that you find a written copy of a spell, or any version of the spell (including just having it held in your mind and "known" or already "prepared" from some other source).
There's an edge Wizard case that I think makes clear that you can "find" a spell in your own head: when a Wizard loses their own spellbook, they are left with the spells prepared that they had prepared that day. "If you lose your spellbook, you can use the same procedure to transcribe the spells that you have prepared into a new spellbook..."
Whether or not you think that lets multiclass Wizards launder prepared Cleric spells that are on the Wizard Spell List into their spellbook just by preparing them.... should probably be the same ruling as whether you would allow a multiclass Warlock to launder prepared Cleric ritual spells into their Ritual Tome. But a DM may be more favorable toward that than the Wizard exploit.
Your mileage may vary.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Area Control spells work well for Sorlock as well since you can pick up Eldritch Mind now and get ADV on CON checks.
If you start sorcerer (I would) then you also get prof. in CON saves so you will be very good at keeping spells up and running.
Sickening Radiance has been an absolutely devastating spell for me.
Arcana proficiency allows players to create spell scrolls. Players can attempt to transcribe a spell scroll to the book I believe.
my DM doesn’t bother with that though. Doesn’t make much sense to fail to annotate spells into books when you “know” them from another source.