Hey fellow dungeoners. Recently started playing dnd for the first time ever and decided to make a draconic origin sorcerer. I ended up being the only spell caster as we werent allowed to talk to each other during the charachter creation prozess. As such i am finding it difficult to to choose my spells to accomodate best the party and would appreciate any help as to the choice for my spells.
As of this moment my spell list is as follows: Level 5 sorcerer currently
Cantrips:
-Prestidigitation
-Mage hand
-Shocking grasp
-Mending
-Fire bolt
Level 1:
-Shield
Level 2:
-Suggestion
-Invisibility
-Hold Person
-Scorching ray
Level 3:
-Fireball
Future Spells i have planned to take : mirror image ), Counterspell, Haste, Banishment , Greater invisibility (replaces invisibility), Hold Monster, Mass Suggestion (replaces Suggestion), Disintegrate, Teleport, Wish.
All of this is my personal opinion and it may not match your playing style, so treat it as what I would do, not what you should do.
I like your list of cantrips. You’re going to get more and I would pick something that’s flexible and can be used creatively both in and out of combat for your next cantrip.
I would suggest knowing one concentration spell at every level, including first level. I’d consider Fog Cloud, Absorb Elements, and Chaos Bolt as additional first level spells.
You “need” Dragons Breath at 2nd level for thematic purposes. It’s very effective when you cast it on an ally who doesn’t do much damage in combat. See Invisibility, Shatter, Web, and Levitate are all great 2nd level spells too.
Depending on how much you want to be in melee, you may want Misty Step and then replace it with Thunder Step and then Dimension Door as you go up in level. Short range teleport to get into and out of sticky situations is surprisingly useful.
One thing to be careful about with defensive spells. Since Mirror Image and similar spells take a full action to cast its easy to “armor up” and then discover that combat is over by the time you’re ready to fight.
You are a great blaster. All sorcerers are. I would strongly suggest that you make sure that you have one spell of every spell level that you can augment with metamagic. That’s what makes sorcerers different from other arcane casters, pick your spells and Metamagic to build on each other.
I love Banishment, great choice, but it really sucks when you cast it and your target makes its saving throw. Wait until you have 5th level spell slots or the Twin Spell metamagic so that you can target two opponents with it so that you’re more likely to affect one of them.
All of this is my random thoughts. It’s how I would tweak your choices. But your playing style might be different enough from mine that you won’t like my choices either.
Thank you for your reply . I should have mentioned that i have taken the Twinned and quicken metamagic. I understand you like to stay in a more melee range, which is not something my Char would do. Other than that , i am wanting to take dragons breadth, but between that and my other second level spells i feel that my level 2 spells are getting very clustered , as in i have too many of them. Would you suggest replacing for example invisibility(which was taken for purely rp purposes) with mirror image? Or is mirror image maybe not as important for maintaining concentration as people say? Furthermore i was planning on maybe taking chromatic orb.
One other thought. Sorcerers have a limited number of spells known. Try to pick spells that have multiple potential uses when they’re available in order to get more bang for your buck.
Here is one scenario that I did when I was playing a warlock with only two spell slots. I knew Thunder Step and my AC was 12 if I recall correctly so melee was not where I wanted to be. I was surrounded by opponents when combat started, which was exactly where I didn’t want to be. I moved so that I was completely surrounded and cast Thunder Step to escape from melee. I got lucky and took out over half of the opponents who were surrounding me which is the only reason I survived that combat.
I have seen Absorb elements come up alot, my question would be is it really that good ? Because it seems very situational and is limited to self. In addition to that the bonus damgae woud do little to nothing for a ranged char.
What is the make up of the rest of your party? You say you are the only spell caster so does that mean everyone else is playing martial classes? If so then you are going to want to take Haste sooner rather than later - your melee fighters will thank you for it. Is there a Rouge in your party? Then Invisibility makes sense.
Also what do you want your role in the party to be? Blaster, Control or Support. Sorcerers have a hard time being all three. Not that it isn't possible but with so few spells. If you are the only caster, you are probably going to end up a blaster. The amount of DPR a sorcerer can deal is unreal.
Cantrips are solid. Never leave home without Firebolt. Shocking grasp works better for melee sorcerers.
Personally I think you have too many Level 2 spells and too many concentration spells. Suggestion is a great multipurpose spell. I tend to use it out of combat but it has combat applications. Twinning it is a lot of fun. By 5th level I had two Level 1 and two Level 2 spells. At Level 5 most of my known spells were Level 3 because spells at that level are really good.
Scorching Ray was pointless once I got fireball but you have so many concentration spells right now I can see why you would want to keep it.
Misty Step is your friend at lower levels because its a bonus action to use (you have Quicken but why use up sorcery points if you don't have to). Thunderstep got me out of many a jam at lower levels plus you can do damage and take a friend with you. I gave it up for Dimension Door later.
I love Banishment but I usually take Heighten. It's a spell that if it lands it is awesome but if it doesn't you've lost a spell slot with nothing to show for it. I'm not a fan of Disintegrate for the same reason. Disintegrate is a great spell but if the creature saves it doesn't take half damage so you've just used up a precious 6th level spell slot. Twinning it is very, very expensive as well ( 6 sorcery points you might lose and have nothing to show for it.)
Non-concentration spells I like at higher levels include Lightning Bolt, Blight, Vitriolic Sphere, Synaptic Static, Cone of Cold and Chained Lightning. If you have Greater Invisibility you cast them without losing concentration and usually you can't be counterspelled.
Hey thanks for the feedback and you aare right i do have too many second level spells. i have decided to keep invisibility(mabe switsch it out for mirror image, and or dragonsbreadth) and suggestion, as for level 3 ive decided to go with fire ball and slow and then counterspell an maybe switch out slow with haste or take haste( that would bring my level 3 spell total to 4 tho and taking thunderstep would increase it further to 5 which i think would be obnoxious). I have also switched out chromatic orb for chaos bolt which i would be maybe replacing with id insinuation(and or chromatic orb)
My Party makeup is , Me , Bloodhunter (lycanthropy) , FIghter(battlemaster) and a ranger(gloomstalker),
i am planning on going to take heightened as my third metamagic.Also am planning to take 1 or 2 level dips in warlock, purely for rp purposes if you would believe it or not.
If you are taking mirror image then I wouldn't take greater invisibility over invisibility. Invisibility gives you a good scouting option and potential for surprising an enemy. Greater invisibility is good in combat but the limited duration hinders its utility.
Edit: I see people already mention this so sorry for not reading previous posts before commenting.
Why would you consider absorb elements as a must have as at the end of the day it only gives me resistance and as such becomes extremely situational.
It depends on your game. The spell can be life saving if you fought something that lets say has a breath weapon. We had a game where dragons were more common in encounters because of the story and absorb elements saved my ass so many times. It uses a reaction which you may not have many uses for and can halve damage which is useful for low hit die classes like sorcerer.
Hey fellow dungeoners. Recently started playing dnd for the first time ever and decided to make a draconic origin sorcerer. I ended up being the only spell caster as we werent allowed to talk to each other during the charachter creation prozess. As such i am finding it difficult to to choose my spells to accomodate best the party and would appreciate any help as to the choice for my spells.
As of this moment my spell list is as follows: Level 5 sorcerer currently
Cantrips:
-Prestidigitation
-Mage hand
-Shocking grasp
-Mending
-Fire bolt
Level 1:
-Shield
Level 2:
-Suggestion
-Invisibility
-Hold Person
-Scorching ray
Level 3:
-Fireball
Future Spells i have planned to take : mirror image ), Counterspell, Haste, Banishment , Greater invisibility (replaces invisibility), Hold Monster, Mass Suggestion (replaces Suggestion), Disintegrate, Teleport, Wish.
Mirror image can be useful but I find shield effective enough because it lasts a lot of attacks anyway and mirror image is less attacks that have lower AC. Mirror image also takes an action or quickened spell to avoid losing that action.
Misty step is popular for the movement benfits. Levitate has movement or action denial uses. I like alter self for out of combat uses.
Hold person is situational, requires concentration, and allows repeat saves. Hold monster is definitely better without that situational requirement.
Haste is definitely worthwhile. Magic resistance, epic saves, resistances, and immunities happen while a good buff always gives the sorc a decent option.
Banishment is awesome but disintegrate might not be so much. Disintegrate is decent damage but the party looks like it has damage covered. AoE's and status effects would be the way I would go. Scatter or true seeing offer some utility.
I don't care for teleport. It has accuracy issues. Plane shift can do the same thing without error chance if there's time to cast it twice plus it gives plane shifting.
Dominate monster and earthquake both have their uses too. ;-)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hey fellow dungeoners. Recently started playing dnd for the first time ever and decided to make a draconic origin sorcerer. I ended up being the only spell caster as we werent allowed to talk to each other during the charachter creation prozess. As such i am finding it difficult to to choose my spells to accomodate best the party and would appreciate any help as to the choice for my spells.
As of this moment my spell list is as follows: Level 5 sorcerer currently
Cantrips:
-Prestidigitation
-Mage hand
-Shocking grasp
-Mending
-Fire bolt
Level 1:
-Shield
Level 2:
-Suggestion
-Invisibility
-Hold Person
-Scorching ray
Level 3:
-Fireball
Future Spells i have planned to take : mirror image ), Counterspell, Haste, Banishment , Greater invisibility (replaces invisibility), Hold Monster, Mass Suggestion (replaces Suggestion), Disintegrate, Teleport, Wish.
All of this is my personal opinion and it may not match your playing style, so treat it as what I would do, not what you should do.
I like your list of cantrips. You’re going to get more and I would pick something that’s flexible and can be used creatively both in and out of combat for your next cantrip.
I would suggest knowing one concentration spell at every level, including first level. I’d consider Fog Cloud, Absorb Elements, and Chaos Bolt as additional first level spells.
You “need” Dragons Breath at 2nd level for thematic purposes. It’s very effective when you cast it on an ally who doesn’t do much damage in combat. See Invisibility, Shatter, Web, and Levitate are all great 2nd level spells too.
Depending on how much you want to be in melee, you may want Misty Step and then replace it with Thunder Step and then Dimension Door as you go up in level. Short range teleport to get into and out of sticky situations is surprisingly useful.
One thing to be careful about with defensive spells. Since Mirror Image and similar spells take a full action to cast its easy to “armor up” and then discover that combat is over by the time you’re ready to fight.
You are a great blaster. All sorcerers are. I would strongly suggest that you make sure that you have one spell of every spell level that you can augment with metamagic. That’s what makes sorcerers different from other arcane casters, pick your spells and Metamagic to build on each other.
I love Banishment, great choice, but it really sucks when you cast it and your target makes its saving throw. Wait until you have 5th level spell slots or the Twin Spell metamagic so that you can target two opponents with it so that you’re more likely to affect one of them.
All of this is my random thoughts. It’s how I would tweak your choices. But your playing style might be different enough from mine that you won’t like my choices either.
Professional computer geek
Thank you for your reply . I should have mentioned that i have taken the Twinned and quicken metamagic. I understand you like to stay in a more melee range, which is not something my Char would do. Other than that , i am wanting to take dragons breadth, but between that and my other second level spells i feel that my level 2 spells are getting very clustered , as in i have too many of them. Would you suggest replacing for example invisibility(which was taken for purely rp purposes) with mirror image? Or is mirror image maybe not as important for maintaining concentration as people say? Furthermore i was planning on maybe taking chromatic orb.
Strongly suggest Absorb Elements as a must have.
I believe you need two 1st level, two 2nd level and two 3rd level spells for a 5th level Sorcerer.
. . . . also big on Fly. Not so much for combat but it has its uses there also, but more for its utility. Same reason I like Invisibility.
Not so hot for Scorching Ray with Firebolt going 2d10. Suggestion or Hold Person, not both. I try yo focus hard on having few Concentration spells
One other thought. Sorcerers have a limited number of spells known. Try to pick spells that have multiple potential uses when they’re available in order to get more bang for your buck.
Here is one scenario that I did when I was playing a warlock with only two spell slots. I knew Thunder Step and my AC was 12 if I recall correctly so melee was not where I wanted to be. I was surrounded by opponents when combat started, which was exactly where I didn’t want to be. I moved so that I was completely surrounded and cast Thunder Step to escape from melee. I got lucky and took out over half of the opponents who were surrounding me which is the only reason I survived that combat.
Professional computer geek
1st: absorb elements, id insinuation
2nd: enlarge/reduce (remember it works on objects too in most cases its better than knock), mirror image
3rd: Slow (just ends encounters very easily plus its pretty much auto win in any chase scenario)
I have seen Absorb elements come up alot, my question would be is it really that good ? Because it seems very situational and is limited to self. In addition to that the bonus damgae woud do little to nothing for a ranged char.
What is the make up of the rest of your party? You say you are the only spell caster so does that mean everyone else is playing martial classes? If so then you are going to want to take Haste sooner rather than later - your melee fighters will thank you for it. Is there a Rouge in your party? Then Invisibility makes sense.
Also what do you want your role in the party to be? Blaster, Control or Support. Sorcerers have a hard time being all three. Not that it isn't possible but with so few spells. If you are the only caster, you are probably going to end up a blaster. The amount of DPR a sorcerer can deal is unreal.
Cantrips are solid. Never leave home without Firebolt. Shocking grasp works better for melee sorcerers.
Personally I think you have too many Level 2 spells and too many concentration spells. Suggestion is a great multipurpose spell. I tend to use it out of combat but it has combat applications. Twinning it is a lot of fun. By 5th level I had two Level 1 and two Level 2 spells. At Level 5 most of my known spells were Level 3 because spells at that level are really good.
Scorching Ray was pointless once I got fireball but you have so many concentration spells right now I can see why you would want to keep it.
Misty Step is your friend at lower levels because its a bonus action to use (you have Quicken but why use up sorcery points if you don't have to). Thunderstep got me out of many a jam at lower levels plus you can do damage and take a friend with you. I gave it up for Dimension Door later.
I love Banishment but I usually take Heighten. It's a spell that if it lands it is awesome but if it doesn't you've lost a spell slot with nothing to show for it. I'm not a fan of Disintegrate for the same reason. Disintegrate is a great spell but if the creature saves it doesn't take half damage so you've just used up a precious 6th level spell slot. Twinning it is very, very expensive as well ( 6 sorcery points you might lose and have nothing to show for it.)
Non-concentration spells I like at higher levels include Lightning Bolt, Blight, Vitriolic Sphere, Synaptic Static, Cone of Cold and Chained Lightning. If you have Greater Invisibility you cast them without losing concentration and usually you can't be counterspelled.
Hey thanks for the feedback and you aare right i do have too many second level spells. i have decided to keep invisibility(mabe switsch it out for mirror image, and or dragonsbreadth) and suggestion, as for level 3 ive decided to go with fire ball and slow and then counterspell an maybe switch out slow with haste or take haste( that would bring my level 3 spell total to 4 tho and taking thunderstep would increase it further to 5 which i think would be obnoxious). I have also switched out chromatic orb for chaos bolt which i would be maybe replacing with id insinuation(and or chromatic orb)
My Party makeup is , Me , Bloodhunter (lycanthropy) , FIghter(battlemaster) and a ranger(gloomstalker),
i am planning on going to take heightened as my third metamagic.Also am planning to take 1 or 2 level dips in warlock, purely for rp purposes if you would believe it or not.
Why would you consider absorb elements as a must have as at the end of the day it only gives me resistance and as such becomes extremely situational.
If you are taking mirror image then I wouldn't take greater invisibility over invisibility. Invisibility gives you a good scouting option and potential for surprising an enemy. Greater invisibility is good in combat but the limited duration hinders its utility.
Edit: I see people already mention this so sorry for not reading previous posts before commenting.
Your secret is safe with my indifference - Percy
It depends on your game. The spell can be life saving if you fought something that lets say has a breath weapon. We had a game where dragons were more common in encounters because of the story and absorb elements saved my ass so many times. It uses a reaction which you may not have many uses for and can halve damage which is useful for low hit die classes like sorcerer.
Your secret is safe with my indifference - Percy
Shocking grasp is useful for denying a reaction. Usually it's to avoid an oppotunity attack before or while moving that doesn't cost a spell slot.
It can save a lot of damage. Not instantly dropping to dragon breath is nice. ;-)
It's hard to call shield good and not absorb elements when they are similar but targeting different types of attacks.
Mirror image can be useful but I find shield effective enough because it lasts a lot of attacks anyway and mirror image is less attacks that have lower AC. Mirror image also takes an action or quickened spell to avoid losing that action.
Misty step is popular for the movement benfits. Levitate has movement or action denial uses. I like alter self for out of combat uses.
Hold person is situational, requires concentration, and allows repeat saves. Hold monster is definitely better without that situational requirement.
Haste is definitely worthwhile. Magic resistance, epic saves, resistances, and immunities happen while a good buff always gives the sorc a decent option.
Banishment is awesome but disintegrate might not be so much. Disintegrate is decent damage but the party looks like it has damage covered. AoE's and status effects would be the way I would go. Scatter or true seeing offer some utility.
I don't care for teleport. It has accuracy issues. Plane shift can do the same thing without error chance if there's time to cast it twice plus it gives plane shifting.
Dominate monster and earthquake both have their uses too. ;-)