How to download a sorcerer, why metamagic is needed, where to invest enchantment points and much more
Sorcerers are true masters of magic, whose spell power, unlike sorcerers, does not depend on patrons. As far as being different from wizards, sorcerers don’t need arcane books to develop their abilities. One class feature that sets them apart from other spellcasters is the ability to use metamagic, making spells versatile. This compensates for the lack of armor skills.
Using metamagic consumes enchantment points. You can replenish spell points by converting spell slots or after a long rest. Also, if you want to cast additional spells, you can sacrifice enchantment points to unlock spell slots.
Character Creation
In this section, we’ll walk through the process of customizing the sorcerer during character creation to get the best results. You don’t have to follow these instructions verbatim, as this is just one possible build for a sorcerer.
Origin
As a backstory, I suggest taking any that will give skills with a Charisma check, since sorcerers should pump this characteristic to the maximum in order to hit targets more often and deal more damage with spells. They will also receive bonuses on social skill checks such as persuasion, intimidation, or deception when interacting with NPCs. Ideally, you should strive to unlock all four skills (not immediately), but already three will be enough.
Race
The first race that is great for sorcerers is the forest half-elf. This is due to the +2 bonus to Charisma, which will allow you to reach 16 points of charisma already at character creation, that is, you will save 2 standard skill points and can invest one each in Dexterity and Stamina. Dexterity is an important attribute for a sorcerer, since this character cannot wear medium armor. Any bonuses added to this ability will improve the armor class (AC), making the characters more durable. Endurance increases maximum health, therefore also increasing the sorcerer’s survivability. So you must have at least 16 Dexterity and 14 Stamina.
The half-elf wood also has Night Vision, so you will be able to cast spells in the dark within a certain range. Also has a bonus to movement speed. Alternatively, you can also consider drow Lolth or the Seldarine, as they provide +2 Agility, +1 Charisma, and Enhanced Night Vision. Finally, the lightfoot halfling will grant the same ability bonuses, along with the Luck unique racial trait, which allows you to make another attack, ability check, or trial roll if you originally rolled a 1 on the die.
Subclass
Enchanters have three subclasses – Spawn of Dragons, Wild Magic, and Storm Enchantment. Your decision depends on which bonuses you prefer to receive – Draconic Fortitude, Chaos Surge, or Stormy Magic, respectively. Descendant of Dragons will allow you to select a dragon ancestor and focus on a specific type of elemental damage, as well as by the sixth level will open access to protection against this type of elemental damage. In addition, you will receive a specific spell from the chosen ancestor.
I prefer “Dragon Ancestor: Green (Poison)” and “Dragon Ancestor: Red (Fire)” because of Disease Ray and Burning Hands respectively. Disease Beam can be cast from afar, with a chance to poison the selected target, dealing additional damage over time in addition to the initial poison damage. Flaming Hands is a melee weapon that allows you to deal massive fire damage to multiple targets in an area of effect. Meanwhile, Draconic Fortitude increases your maximum health points each time you level up an Origin.
Wild Magic will allow you to trigger a magical effect when you cast a spell. This effect is chaotic, meaning it can be for or against you. For example, you can play Mirror Image to force enemies to attack your doppelgangers, or one of your allies will be poisoned for a while. Chaos Surge grants advantage on your next attack roll, ability check, or trial, but after casting, you must use a short or long Rest to use the function again. Advantage is a mechanic that causes you to roll a D20 die twice on an attack roll, ability check, or trial.
Between these two subclasses, the first subclass will provide better stability and survivability due to the armor class bonus, while the second subclass will make the journey more chaotic and random. As for Charm Storm, when you cast a spell of 1st level or higher, you can fly until the end of your turn without triggering attacks of opportunity against you. A more specific option that I wouldn’t get hung up on.
Skills
In terms of skills, again, this is not that important, but you will have high Charisma and Agility, so it is ideal to choose those skills that correspond to these attributes. Dexterity includes acrobatics, stealth, and sleight of hand; Charisma includes execution, deceit, intimidation, and persuasion.
Abilities
The main ability of the sorcerer is Charisma, which increases the effectiveness of spells in combat. For this reason, you will need at least 16 units, which you can get during the character creation process. In the future, you will probably want to increase the attribute value to 18. Other than that, Agility and Stamina are the abilities you should focus on to increase survivability, since armor with a low armor class is available to you.
You can then add points to Wisdom, Intelligence, or Strength, but it won’t make much of a difference, since none of the attributes affect the effectiveness of spells. However, it should be borne in mind that they affect the result of the skill test.
Level 1
During character creation, you will be able to choose tricks and spells. But, unlike the same wizards, before using it, you don’t have to “prepare” spells from the list of known ones. Instead, you learn a limited number of spells, which you immediately gain access to. Thus, one must act selectively and choose only the most interesting ones.
Focuses
At the first level, you will be able to choose 4 tricks. The best of them are “Dancing Lights”, “Ice Beam”, “Acid Splash” and “Chilling Cold”. Dancing Wisps will allow you to summon a beam of light for allies who cannot see in the dark, and neutralize the penalties to their attacks. Ice Beam is a ranged spell that deals cold damage and slows the target. Acid Splash deals acid damage to all units it hits in the area. Finally, Bone Chill deals necrotic damage, preventing targets from healing until their next turn. If you cast a spell against the undead, also impose disadvantage on attack rolls.
Concentration
Some tricks and spells are concentration-based (that is, they will only be active as long as the sorcerer is concentrated). Concentration is broken if you play another focus or spell that requires this action. Carefully read the descriptions of tricks and spells – there will be a corresponding mark “Concentration” in the windows. For example, if you play Flaming Wisps and then activate Hasty Retreat, you will stop “focusing” on the first spell and direct this action to activate the second.
In addition, if you take damage while concentrating on a spell, an endurance challenge will be triggered. On a failure, the effect of this Spell is broken. However, if you succeed on the test, save your concentration and the spell will continue. That’s why it’s vital for sorcerers to have a high amount of stamina, because of the spells that require this ability to dodge and maintain focus.
spells
Wizards can choose from a variety of spells. On the first level, you can choose two of them. I highly recommend choosing Magic Arrow and Thunder Wave.” Magic Missile is an important spell as it always hits (can’t miss) and is guaranteed to finish off enemies (especially if they’re low on health). Thunder Wave, on the other hand, is a great AoE spell that knocks enemies back, sometimes causing them to die. Due to the small radius of action, you must use the spell against those opponents who decide to get close to you in order to knock you away.
If you choose the Spawn of Dragons subclass, you don’t need to take Mage Armor as you will have 13 Armor by default.
Level 2 – Metamagic
From the second level, spell points will appear that can be converted into spell cells or vice versa right during the battle. This is a bonus action, so you can use it in addition to other spells on the same turn. At the second level, you will receive 2 points of enchantment, and their number will increase by 1 for each level.
Spell points are used in metamagic, which allows you to choose how to control spells. Right now you can choose from 2 metamagic options out of 4. There are cautious, ranged, continuous and dual spells. A careful spell allows you and your allies to excel in challenges, so you automatically nullify or weaken the effects of enemy spells. The ranged spell increases the range of some spells, allowing you to hit enemies from a long distance. A continuous spell doubles the duration of conditions, summons, and surfaces created by spells. Dual Spell allows you to hit two creatures with spells that would normally only hit one.
I recommend using Ranged and Dual Spells, as you won’t have to take tests too often, and there’s no need to frequently renew any condition, since most of your spell effects don’t need to be renewed. Conversely, with ranged spells, you can attack hard-to-reach enemies such as harpies. This refers to the effects of frost ray, sickness ray, and acid splash. This even extends to spells in scrolls (such as the Inflict Wounds scroll).
You don’t really need to limit yourself to these spells. The fight that will allow you to especially benefit from a long-range metamagic spell is the confrontation with Aunt Ethel, who will be located very far from you. To make sure you successfully hit her with your most powerful ranged spells, you can use this metamagic with Magic Missile. As a result, you don’t have to get close or worry about losing damage due to the long distance to the target.
Dual Spell is a powerful metamagic variant that essentially allows you to cast a spell twice using only one spell slot – a huge plus for a sorcerer who only has 3 spell slots at 2nd level. That is, in a turn, you can attack two targets at once with the “Ray of Disease”. Each of these metamagic options costs 1 enchantment point. Spell points and spell slots are fully restored after a long rest.
Spells, replace the spell
Starting at the second level, you will be able to remove old ones and learn new ones instead. This is done using the appropriate option “Replace spell” by analogy with the sorcerer. Having learned the spell, you can choose the cast that you want to remove, and install any of the available ones as a replacement. If everything suits you, just ignore this option and continue learning new spells.
I suggest looking into Chromatic Orb, another powerful spell that lets you choose the type of elemental damage you want to inflict on your target from a distance.
Dual Chromatic Orb is a very powerful combo, and becomes more powerful at levels three and four due to the total number of enchantment points you have available. When fighting multiple enemies, Double Chromatic Orb can be used twice at level two, three times at level three, and so on. This is due to the low cost of “Metamagic: Dual Spell” (only 1 enchantment point). So, going back to the second level, you can use this spell against 4 different enemies. Since Chromatic Orb allows you to switch between different types of elemental damage at will, you can choose the most suitable one for a particular situation, effectively taking full control of the confrontation.
Level 3
At the third level, you will be able to choose one more metamagic from the five available. The three options added are boosted, quick and stealth spells. An elevated spell imposes disadvantage on the targets of that spell for one turn. A stealth spell allows you to continue casting spells even while silent. And a quick spell converts all spells that count as an action into a bonus action. Among them, “Quick Spell” clearly stands out, even if it costs 3 enchantment points. You will rarely be silenced, and you will not often have to pass tests.
Returning to the quick spell, in one turn you can cast one spell as a bonus action instead of an action, allowing you to cast another spell. This is very effective in tough fights or during boss fights as you can use any powerful spell twice per turn.
In addition, at this level it is important to take the Scorching Ray spell. It deals 2-12 fire damage to multiple enemies, or 3 to 2-12 damage to the same target. This is a lot of damage, which makes Scorching Ray a versatile and must-have spell. In addition, you will gain 1 spell slot of the first level and 2 spell slots of the second level.
Level 4
At level four, you’ll gain another spell slot of the second level, as well as a focus. Also, you can choose a trait, and I highly recommend taking Stat Enhancement to get to Charisma 18. As a sorcerer, you should prioritize maximizing this attribute as much as possible.
You can also choose 1 focus and 1 spell. Shock Touch is a melee attack that deals 1-8 lightning damage, preventing the target from reacting to any of your actions. For example, enemies will not be able to perform attacks of opportunity or attack you if you move out of melee range. As a spell, you can choose “Mist Step”, “Humanoid Paralysis”, “Mirror Reflection” or “Sleep”.
Miststep allows you to position yourself higher to gain an advantage before using any of your ranged spells. The only reason not to take it is if you already have the Miststep Amulet found in the Shattered Sanctuary. Instead, you can take Humanoid Paralysis to paralyze your target, or Mirror Image to create three doppelgangers and distract enemies.
Sleep is also a great crowd control spell, as you can immobilize enemies for a short amount of time, even though the target’s total health is limited. In addition, you can use Dual Spell on Humanoid Paralysis, Mirror Image, and Sleep to cast them on multiple targets in the same turn.
Equipment
As far as sorcerer gear goes, you don’t have to invest as much in weapons and armor as other classes do. Proficiency with a combat staff or light crossbow won’t make much of a difference despite the limited number of spell slots, as you can easily refill them after a long rest. And saving up supplies for such a holiday is as easy as shelling pears!
You can wear the wizard robe you started with because it contributes to the current 16 armor class. As for accessories, you will need “Sapphire Spark”, “Absolute Talisman”. Sapphire Spark can be bought from Blurg in Blacklake Grotto. It will give an additional 1-4 points of psychic damage for each Magic Arrow fired. As a result, you deal 9-27 damage with this spell on the first circle, and on the second circle the damage will be 12-36 points, which will allow you to destroy many enemies with one shot.
Talisman of the Absolute, which can be found in the Shattered Sanctuary, increases survivability because it restores 1-8 health points whenever you deal damage, provided that you are low on HP.
Conclusion
The sorcerer is a flexible class in terms of casting spells. You will be able to get creative with your spell selection depending on the different metamagic options. For example, if you frequently cast spells that cause enemies to pass on trials (Burning Hands and Thunder Wave), you might want to look at the increased spell’s metamagic instead of the quick one. You will impede enemies, increasing the chance of taking full damage from your spells.
Before the battle begins, you will be able to select the metamagic you want to plan in advance which spells to use against enemies. If you use a dual spell with Ray of Disease, your spell points will only be spent after you cast two enemies.
Be sure to use ranged spells while occupying heights and being above the target to gain an advantage. This applies to ice ray, sickness ray, and scorching ray.
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