Our party is mainly composed of Strikers, so we're pretty good at handling single enemies but crowds are a problem. Next time I switch my character, which will probably be when we level up to 6th, I want to fill that role. I've got some ideas, but undoubtedly the collective wisdom of the forums has a better one.
All official content, no UA, and maybe one Rare or lower magic item if I can make a good case to the DM.
Warlocks make the best blasters. The subclass (and apt) depends on what else you want your warlock to do. Among the best warlock subclasses: -The Genie gives you a little more damage, but the best thing is the rest of the things that he offers you. Especially useful if you want to be an infiltrator as well as a blaster. - Although it is not usually done, the hexblade is very good as a blaster too. His special hex works the same at range, although some may forget. Book of chains pacts are good for this hexblade that isn't going to melee. - The fiend, the standard warlock, gives you some good offensive spells for a blaster (Fireball especially).
Anyway, any Warlock can make a good blaster really. The only thing you have to make sure of is choosing Agonizing Blast, and one of the other two summons that allow you to move the target with your Eldritch Blast (to get them into AoE spells like Sickening Radiance).
The simplest subclass that is built to be a blaster type is the Evocation Wizard. The "Sculpt Spells" feature makes it much easier to drop a fireball on a crowd of hostiles, since you don't have to worry about whether or not your allies are caught in the blast. They also get boosts to their cantrips, and just a straight up damage boost to evocation spells... they even get the ability to deal max damage with certain spells without rolling.
Another solid choice is Draconic Sorcerer... they get a minor boost to damage on a specific element. Although really any Sorcerer can get the most valuable way to add damage, Twinned Spell and Quickened Spell. Twinned Spell is more limited, since it can only be applied to single target spells, but Quickened Spell lets you release a Cantrip on that same turn... and of course, you can Twin that cantrip as well if you've got the Sorcery points to spare, and all those spells add your CHA modifier to damage for Draconic Sorcerers.
Another really powerful blaster is Tempest Cleric, which lets you deal Maximum Damage with a spell that deals either Lightning or Thunder damage once per short/long rest using your Channel Divinity: Destructive Wrath. The biggest problem with this is that there aren't that many spells in the Cleric spell list that deal those damage types... luckily, this feature turns online at 2nd level, so this makes this a potent two-level multiclass dip. It pairs particularly well with Draconic Sorcerer if you take the Blue or Bronze ancestry, since the wording of Destructive Wrath isn't that it applies to a single spell... check with your DM, though. It's one of those features that is vaguely worded enough that it basically requires DM interpretation... but if the DM allows it, it could apply to all spells cast in a single round... with the Quickened/Twinned Spell combo you're basically casting three spells in a single round, all of which potentially deal max damage.
Evocation Wizards are really good blasters, with their ability to exclude allies from blasts, and deal half damage even on successful saves with cantrips, so they can reliably have damage output.
I'm personally a fan of Aberrant Mind Sorcerers. Though they don't punch quite as hard as Evocation Wizards, their ability to subtle-cast and eventually cast powerful spells like Summon Aberration without needing any components whatsoever by casting them directly from Sorcery Points, make them very interesting to play.
Something else you might also consider is how spellcasters can frequently influence the battle significantly more through battlefield control spells or manipulating fate than through damage output. Counterspelling enemy casters, using lingering AoE to produce area-denial effects, or obstructing vision, Silvery Barbs to make a crit be re-rolled, while giving an ally advantage on the next attack, etc. Druids (particularly Land Druids) have some really good ability to manipulate the battlefield for your advantage.
The absolute best low level blaster is hexblade 1/sorcerer ???. Magic missile + Hexblade's curse is extremely powerful as Hexblade's Curse works with each missile individually (magic missile is the only effect/spell in the game to combo with Hexblade's Curse like this). This isn't a crowd killer but a boss slayer This is incredibly strong though and you should check with your DM before doing this, lest you wish for enemies to shield-spam.
As the thread mentioned 2 levels of tempest cleric and levels in sorcerer (transmuted spell) or scribes wizard can allow for some great NOVA damage, especially at level 7 where you can get fireball (which then you can transmute to lightning damage and then use Destructive Wrath)
For AOE damage, which is what you seem to want most, fireball is good... but even better is Spirit Guardians, which a cleric or divine soul sorcerer can take at level 5. It'll make you a bit closer to the front lines, but you have an AOE difficult terrain and damage dealing aura, which won't effect you party. There's some surprisingly high damage you can do with this spell over time, although it's benefits might not be as instantaneously beneficial as fireball.
Evocation Wizard is always great since you don't need to worry about fireballing the party.
Reading the OP’s post, I don’t think single target blasters are going to help him anymore than just having another melee. They are fine with single targets but are struggling with multiple targets. There are lots of ways that this can be handled and blasting is probably the worst.
AoE spells such as burning hands, ice missile, flaming sphere, fireball, lightning bolt, cone of cold, synaptic static etc are great, and an exciting way to do things, but there are plenty of other ways. Crowd control with spells like command, suggestion, hold person, charm, fear, enthral, hypnotic pattern, slow etc can be amazing. Ground control spells like wall of ‘x’, blade barrier, spirit guardians, grease, web, spike growth, darkness can also work really well. Another option would be summoned creatures, the ability to call up 8 velociraptors at lvl 5 is huge, and they will have a massive impact on your combat encounters.
I have used all of them in various games over the years, they all have pros and cons and your mileage varies depending on what style of game play. Personally I find a bit of a mixture is better than focusing on just one, and of them all a plain blaster was the most boring and had the least versatility.
All of those options are good, but at the end of the day what makes the difference in a blaster is how much damage you're going to do with cantrips. Nothing beats the warlock in that regard (especially when he starts casting more than one Eldritch Blast per turn).
It also depends a lot on the game, and the amount of fights you are going to have between long rests. In a playgroup whose DM allows long rests every 3-4 fights, someone who can pepper the bad guys with fireballs comes out on top. But if on average you're going to have 6 or 7 fights for every long rest, that character is going to be more of a nova than a blaster.
On the other hand, someone commented that a controller is better than a blaster for what the OP asks for. And I agree. In fact I find it more effective in most situations than a blaster ((or magic gunner). But that depends on personal taste. I really like to play a caster as a controller. But if you ask me for a blaster, I'm going to say Warlock as the first option. And then, depending on what you want to do besides busting bad guys, I'd say Evocation Wizards or some Clerics.
Don't sleep on Circle of Stars Druid. Starting at 2nd level you cast Guiding Bolt without expending spell slots as many times as your proficiency bonus. So at 2nd level you are taking Starry Form (Archer) and every round using bonus action to to 1d8+Wis and in the same round casting Guiding Bolt for 4d6 and also giving advantage to your teammates. At 3rd level, you pick up Moonbeam, so after your Guiding Bolts run out you are doing that for 2d10 per round for 10 rounds (in addition to all those Archer shots.) Also, all of the above is Radiant damage, which very few creatures have resistance to.
Don't sleep on Circle of Stars Druid. Starting at 2nd level you cast Guiding Bolt without expending spell slots as many times as your proficiency bonus. So at 2nd level you are taking Starry Form (Archer) and every round using bonus action to to 1d8+Wis and in the same round casting Guiding Bolt for 4d6 and also giving advantage to your teammates. At 3rd level, you pick up Moonbeam, so after your Guiding Bolts run out you are doing that for 2d10 per round for 10 rounds (in addition to all those Archer shots.) Also, all of the above is Radiant damage, which very few creatures have resistance to.
Stars druid is excellent, and getting free uses of guiding bolt is awesome but it’s a backup not your primary source of damage. It’s proficiency bonus times per day so that’s twice from levels 1-4. An average encounter is 3-4 rounds and the recommended number of encounters is 6-8 (and before anyone says people don’t do that - they do. In the games I run and the games I have joined as a player every single one has at a minimum 6 encounters). So thats a minimum of 6x3 or 18 combat rounds. And you can do a guiding bolt on 2 of them, that’s 11% at best. So no, as a stars druid I would be using a cantrip most of the time for my action and then a bonus action for the archer form attack. Druids don’t make good spell blasters without a lot of optimisation (at least when you are only talking cantrips anyway).
Don't sleep on Circle of Stars Druid. Starting at 2nd level you cast Guiding Bolt without expending spell slots as many times as your proficiency bonus. So at 2nd level you are taking Starry Form (Archer) and every round using bonus action to to 1d8+Wis and in the same round casting Guiding Bolt for 4d6 and also giving advantage to your teammates. At 3rd level, you pick up Moonbeam, so after your Guiding Bolts run out you are doing that for 2d10 per round for 10 rounds (in addition to all those Archer shots.) Also, all of the above is Radiant damage, which very few creatures have resistance to.
Stars druid is excellent, and getting free uses of guiding bolt is awesome but it’s a backup not your primary source of damage. It’s proficiency bonus times per day so that’s twice from levels 1-4. An average encounter is 3-4 rounds and the recommended number of encounters is 6-8 (and before anyone says people don’t do that - they do. In the games I run and the games I have joined as a player every single one has at a minimum 6 encounters). So thats a minimum of 6x3 or 18 combat rounds. And you can do a guiding bolt on 2 of them, that’s 11% at best. So no, as a stars druid I would be using a cantrip most of the time for my action and then a bonus action for the archer form attack. Druids don’t make good spell blasters without a lot of optimisation (at least when you are only talking cantrips anyway).
The star druid is an excellent blaster, I agree. And a very complete and competent subclass.
Yeah for pure blast on tap a warlock with agonizing and repelling, and mebbe also grasping blast is great for a party of brawlers, you can throw down a cloud of daggers and keep knocking dudes into it, with your brawlers helping to hold them in, even pile em up in there if your DM will let you. Just a higher damage alternative to Hex, the cloud dmgs them going in and at the beginning of their turn, your fighters can also prone em and grapple em in there or drag them to it. Undead is fun cause you get free fear. Eldritch Mind sorcerer is great cause you get extra spells which you can swap out for better ones as you go up in levels - twinned chromatic orb is great. But for maximum AOE firepower, as long as your dm allows it, you can't go wrong with 2 lvls of fighter and 5 lvls of anything that gets fireball. Because Action Surge technically lets you do two fireballs in one round (if your dm allows it). Plus now your caster gets armor, shield, more hp and second wind for even more, and as long as you take fighter as your starting class, you get constitution save proficiency (also heavy armor instead of med). I am currently playing a fighter / wild magic sorc who likes to use Crusher and booming blade ;)
PS - if you want your blaster to work in melee, take gunner or xbow xpert, now you don't have disadvantage for eblasting at point blank range. Also don't underestimate magic missile to turn any full caster into a blaster, the dmg is very good considering no hit roll, you can do multiple targets, and it upcasts. A druid with it is laughing all the way to the bank.
The simplest subclass that is built to be a blaster type is the Evocation Wizard. The "Sculpt Spells" feature makes it much easier to drop a fireball on a crowd of hostiles, since you don't have to worry about whether or not your allies are caught in the blast. They also get boosts to their cantrips, and just a straight up damage boost to evocation spells... they even get the ability to deal max damage with certain spells without rolling.
Another solid choice is Draconic Sorcerer... they get a minor boost to damage on a specific element. Although really any Sorcerer can get the most valuable way to add damage, Twinned Spell and Quickened Spell. Twinned Spell is more limited, since it can only be applied to single target spells, but Quickened Spell lets you release a Cantrip on that same turn... and of course, you can Twin that cantrip as well if you've got the Sorcery points to spare, and all those spells add your CHA modifier to damage for Draconic Sorcerers.
Another really powerful blaster is Tempest Cleric, which lets you deal Maximum Damage with a spell that deals either Lightning or Thunder damage once per short/long rest using your Channel Divinity: Destructive Wrath. The biggest problem with this is that there aren't that many spells in the Cleric spell list that deal those damage types... luckily, this feature turns online at 2nd level, so this makes this a potent two-level multiclass dip. It pairs particularly well with Draconic Sorcerer if you take the Blue or Bronze ancestry, since the wording of Destructive Wrath isn't that it applies to a single spell... check with your DM, though. It's one of those features that is vaguely worded enough that it basically requires DM interpretation... but if the DM allows it, it could apply to all spells cast in a single round... with the Quickened/Twinned Spell combo you're basically casting three spells in a single round, all of which potentially deal max damage.
The Channel Divinity for the Tempest cleric really isn't vague. It clearly states that when you roll damage, you can use a charge of it to max. the rolls damage, if it would count for an entire turn or whatnot it would state so.
Nonetheless, the Tempest Cleric really is a strong blaster limited only by the bad amount of thunder/lightning spells he has access to.
I do definitely agree that the Tempest Cleric's Channel Divinity seems pretty obviously meant to just work on a single attack roll. I think if it was a subclass created in a later book they would have definitely included "once per turn" or some other painfully obvious limiter to it.
It's one shot. All the channel divinities are kind of meh considering how few uses you get from them, storm cleric is actually one of the best if you could keep it running on call lightning or something it would be way stronger than any other ability in the game.
But the wording specifically states that it's activated when you roll damage, so it could only boost one bolt from Call Lightning pr usage. Unlike the Evoker's Overchannel, which gets activated when you cast the spell and maximizes all damage dealt by the spell (giving it a nice synergy with Sickening Radiance or Cloudkill).
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
But the wording specifically states that it's activated when you roll damage, so it could only boost one bolt from Call Lightning pr usage. Unlike the Evoker's Overchannel, which gets activated when you cast the spell and maximizes all damage dealt by the spell (giving it a nice synergy with Sickening Radiance or Cloudkill).
Tempest gives you the ability at level 2.
Overchannel isn't available until level 14 (when most published campaigns, and all the homebrew I've played in, are starting to wind down).
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Our party is mainly composed of Strikers, so we're pretty good at handling single enemies but crowds are a problem. Next time I switch my character, which will probably be when we level up to 6th, I want to fill that role. I've got some ideas, but undoubtedly the collective wisdom of the forums has a better one.
All official content, no UA, and maybe one Rare or lower magic item if I can make a good case to the DM.
Warlocks make the best blasters. The subclass (and apt) depends on what else you want your warlock to do.
Among the best warlock subclasses:
-The Genie gives you a little more damage, but the best thing is the rest of the things that he offers you. Especially useful if you want to be an infiltrator as well as a blaster.
- Although it is not usually done, the hexblade is very good as a blaster too. His special hex works the same at range, although some may forget. Book of chains pacts are good for this hexblade that isn't going to melee.
- The fiend, the standard warlock, gives you some good offensive spells for a blaster (Fireball especially).
Anyway, any Warlock can make a good blaster really. The only thing you have to make sure of is choosing Agonizing Blast, and one of the other two summons that allow you to move the target with your Eldritch Blast (to get them into AoE spells like Sickening Radiance).
The simplest subclass that is built to be a blaster type is the Evocation Wizard. The "Sculpt Spells" feature makes it much easier to drop a fireball on a crowd of hostiles, since you don't have to worry about whether or not your allies are caught in the blast. They also get boosts to their cantrips, and just a straight up damage boost to evocation spells... they even get the ability to deal max damage with certain spells without rolling.
Another solid choice is Draconic Sorcerer... they get a minor boost to damage on a specific element. Although really any Sorcerer can get the most valuable way to add damage, Twinned Spell and Quickened Spell. Twinned Spell is more limited, since it can only be applied to single target spells, but Quickened Spell lets you release a Cantrip on that same turn... and of course, you can Twin that cantrip as well if you've got the Sorcery points to spare, and all those spells add your CHA modifier to damage for Draconic Sorcerers.
Another really powerful blaster is Tempest Cleric, which lets you deal Maximum Damage with a spell that deals either Lightning or Thunder damage once per short/long rest using your Channel Divinity: Destructive Wrath. The biggest problem with this is that there aren't that many spells in the Cleric spell list that deal those damage types... luckily, this feature turns online at 2nd level, so this makes this a potent two-level multiclass dip. It pairs particularly well with Draconic Sorcerer if you take the Blue or Bronze ancestry, since the wording of Destructive Wrath isn't that it applies to a single spell... check with your DM, though. It's one of those features that is vaguely worded enough that it basically requires DM interpretation... but if the DM allows it, it could apply to all spells cast in a single round... with the Quickened/Twinned Spell combo you're basically casting three spells in a single round, all of which potentially deal max damage.
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Evocation Wizards are really good blasters, with their ability to exclude allies from blasts, and deal half damage even on successful saves with cantrips, so they can reliably have damage output.
I'm personally a fan of Aberrant Mind Sorcerers. Though they don't punch quite as hard as Evocation Wizards, their ability to subtle-cast and eventually cast powerful spells like Summon Aberration without needing any components whatsoever by casting them directly from Sorcery Points, make them very interesting to play.
Something else you might also consider is how spellcasters can frequently influence the battle significantly more through battlefield control spells or manipulating fate than through damage output. Counterspelling enemy casters, using lingering AoE to produce area-denial effects, or obstructing vision, Silvery Barbs to make a crit be re-rolled, while giving an ally advantage on the next attack, etc. Druids (particularly Land Druids) have some really good ability to manipulate the battlefield for your advantage.
Those who can cast fireball and call lightning.
Look at spells that have a long range or are cast in a cone or area of effect
I slapped together a quick list
Query4
Query4
That's a long list of spells, but it doesn't identify which of them are capable of hitting multiple targets on a single casting.
The absolute best low level blaster is hexblade 1/sorcerer ???. Magic missile + Hexblade's curse is extremely powerful as Hexblade's Curse works with each missile individually (magic missile is the only effect/spell in the game to combo with Hexblade's Curse like this). This isn't a crowd killer but a boss slayer
This is incredibly strong though and you should check with your DM before doing this, lest you wish for enemies to shield-spam.
As the thread mentioned 2 levels of tempest cleric and levels in sorcerer (transmuted spell) or scribes wizard can allow for some great NOVA damage, especially at level 7 where you can get fireball (which then you can transmute to lightning damage and then use Destructive Wrath)
For AOE damage, which is what you seem to want most, fireball is good... but even better is Spirit Guardians, which a cleric or divine soul sorcerer can take at level 5. It'll make you a bit closer to the front lines, but you have an AOE difficult terrain and damage dealing aura, which won't effect you party. There's some surprisingly high damage you can do with this spell over time, although it's benefits might not be as instantaneously beneficial as fireball.
Evocation Wizard is always great since you don't need to worry about fireballing the party.
Yeah, Evocation Wizard is the best class for going Danger Close with the artillery.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Reading the OP’s post, I don’t think single target blasters are going to help him anymore than just having another melee. They are fine with single targets but are struggling with multiple targets. There are lots of ways that this can be handled and blasting is probably the worst.
AoE spells such as burning hands, ice missile, flaming sphere, fireball, lightning bolt, cone of cold, synaptic static etc are great, and an exciting way to do things, but there are plenty of other ways. Crowd control with spells like command, suggestion, hold person, charm, fear, enthral, hypnotic pattern, slow etc can be amazing. Ground control spells like wall of ‘x’, blade barrier, spirit guardians, grease, web, spike growth, darkness can also work really well. Another option would be summoned creatures, the ability to call up 8 velociraptors at lvl 5 is huge, and they will have a massive impact on your combat encounters.
I have used all of them in various games over the years, they all have pros and cons and your mileage varies depending on what style of game play. Personally I find a bit of a mixture is better than focusing on just one, and of them all a plain blaster was the most boring and had the least versatility.
All of those options are good, but at the end of the day what makes the difference in a blaster is how much damage you're going to do with cantrips. Nothing beats the warlock in that regard (especially when he starts casting more than one Eldritch Blast per turn).
It also depends a lot on the game, and the amount of fights you are going to have between long rests. In a playgroup whose DM allows long rests every 3-4 fights, someone who can pepper the bad guys with fireballs comes out on top. But if on average you're going to have 6 or 7 fights for every long rest, that character is going to be more of a nova than a blaster.
On the other hand, someone commented that a controller is better than a blaster for what the OP asks for. And I agree. In fact I find it more effective in most situations than a blaster ((or magic gunner). But that depends on personal taste. I really like to play a caster as a controller. But if you ask me for a blaster, I'm going to say Warlock as the first option. And then, depending on what you want to do besides busting bad guys, I'd say Evocation Wizards or some Clerics.
Don't sleep on Circle of Stars Druid. Starting at 2nd level you cast Guiding Bolt without expending spell slots as many times as your proficiency bonus. So at 2nd level you are taking Starry Form (Archer) and every round using bonus action to to 1d8+Wis and in the same round casting Guiding Bolt for 4d6 and also giving advantage to your teammates. At 3rd level, you pick up Moonbeam, so after your Guiding Bolts run out you are doing that for 2d10 per round for 10 rounds (in addition to all those Archer shots.) Also, all of the above is Radiant damage, which very few creatures have resistance to.
Stars druid is excellent, and getting free uses of guiding bolt is awesome but it’s a backup not your primary source of damage. It’s proficiency bonus times per day so that’s twice from levels 1-4. An average encounter is 3-4 rounds and the recommended number of encounters is 6-8 (and before anyone says people don’t do that - they do. In the games I run and the games I have joined as a player every single one has at a minimum 6 encounters). So thats a minimum of 6x3 or 18 combat rounds. And you can do a guiding bolt on 2 of them, that’s 11% at best. So no, as a stars druid I would be using a cantrip most of the time for my action and then a bonus action for the archer form attack. Druids don’t make good spell blasters without a lot of optimisation (at least when you are only talking cantrips anyway).
The star druid is an excellent blaster, I agree. And a very complete and competent subclass.
Yeah for pure blast on tap a warlock with agonizing and repelling, and mebbe also grasping blast is great for a party of brawlers, you can throw down a cloud of daggers and keep knocking dudes into it, with your brawlers helping to hold them in, even pile em up in there if your DM will let you. Just a higher damage alternative to Hex, the cloud dmgs them going in and at the beginning of their turn, your fighters can also prone em and grapple em in there or drag them to it. Undead is fun cause you get free fear. Eldritch Mind sorcerer is great cause you get extra spells which you can swap out for better ones as you go up in levels - twinned chromatic orb is great. But for maximum AOE firepower, as long as your dm allows it, you can't go wrong with 2 lvls of fighter and 5 lvls of anything that gets fireball. Because Action Surge technically lets you do two fireballs in one round (if your dm allows it). Plus now your caster gets armor, shield, more hp and second wind for even more, and as long as you take fighter as your starting class, you get constitution save proficiency (also heavy armor instead of med). I am currently playing a fighter / wild magic sorc who likes to use Crusher and booming blade ;)
PS - if you want your blaster to work in melee, take gunner or xbow xpert, now you don't have disadvantage for eblasting at point blank range. Also don't underestimate magic missile to turn any full caster into a blaster, the dmg is very good considering no hit roll, you can do multiple targets, and it upcasts. A druid with it is laughing all the way to the bank.
The Channel Divinity for the Tempest cleric really isn't vague. It clearly states that when you roll damage, you can use a charge of it to max. the rolls damage, if it would count for an entire turn or whatnot it would state so.
Nonetheless, the Tempest Cleric really is a strong blaster limited only by the bad amount of thunder/lightning spells he has access to.
I do definitely agree that the Tempest Cleric's Channel Divinity seems pretty obviously meant to just work on a single attack roll. I think if it was a subclass created in a later book they would have definitely included "once per turn" or some other painfully obvious limiter to it.
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I don't think they would, given how few uses you get of Channel Divinity even at high levels- at 18th you only get three pops per rest.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
It's one shot. All the channel divinities are kind of meh considering how few uses you get from them, storm cleric is actually one of the best if you could keep it running on call lightning or something it would be way stronger than any other ability in the game.
But the wording specifically states that it's activated when you roll damage, so it could only boost one bolt from Call Lightning pr usage. Unlike the Evoker's Overchannel, which gets activated when you cast the spell and maximizes all damage dealt by the spell (giving it a nice synergy with Sickening Radiance or Cloudkill).
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Tempest gives you the ability at level 2.
Overchannel isn't available until level 14 (when most published campaigns, and all the homebrew I've played in, are starting to wind down).