What are the different "roles" that a sorcerer can be built into? (spell list focus)

[Rfkannen]

So most of the time you hear sorcerers spell lists being mostly full of blasting spells, and you get a sorcerer that pumps out all the damage as a blaster.

I heard you can also choose mostly buff spells, and with twinned spell you turn into one of the best buffers in the game.

How else can you build a sorcerer?


bonus; what is your favorite way to build a sorcerer?

[clash]

Sorcerer makes a good mind control class. Combine Heighten spell with spells like Suggestion, hold person, and dominate person and you can be quite effective at shutting down or taking control of targets.

[DivisibleByZero]

Agreed.
Sorcs are often considered to be blasters, but they're actually the best controllers in the game when built for it.

[Addaran]

So most of the time you hear sorcerers spell lists being mostly full of blasting spells, and you get a sorcerer that pumps out all the damage as a blaster.

I heard you can also choose mostly buff spells, and with twinned spell you turn into one of the best buffers in the game.

How else can you build a sorcerer?

There's also crowd control. Sorcerer can force disadvantage with metamagic, so there's more chances to work. With carefull they can even pop it on top of their allies for some spells ( web, stinking cloud, etc)

You can be the ultimate scout with good stealth/invisibility and subtle spells.

And there's social God. You have great charisma with things like enhance ability charisma and the enchantment spells. Normaly you wouldn't be able to cast detect toughs or charm/suggestion/dominate while talking with someone, but now you have subtle.

[KorvinStarmast]

Agreed.
Sorcs are often considered to be blasters, but they're actually the best controllers in the game when built for it. Is there a guide here on a controller sorc build? Hmm ... maybe I am looking at the guides incorrectly.

[DivisibleByZero]

Is there a guide here on a controller sorc build? Hmm ... maybe I am looking at the guides incorrectly.

I don't know if there's a guide around or not. I tend to ignore such threads usually.
But Sorcs can be fan-friggin-tastic controllers due to metamagic.
Single target control effects, which are universally the best ones? Nope, this one's going to target two of you when I Twin it. Heightened speaks for itself on a controller. Extend is pretty useless IMO.... except on a controller.
So on and so forth.
Intelligent Metamagic and spell selection makes Sorcs absolutely amazing controllers.

[rooneg]

So most of the time you hear sorcerers spell lists being mostly full of blasting spells, and you get a sorcerer that pumps out all the damage as a blaster.

I heard you can also choose mostly buff spells, and with twinned spell you turn into one of the best buffers in the game.

How else can you build a sorcerer?

Honestly, I think that either "mostly full of blasting spells" or "mostly buff spells" is something of a trap. You have a super small number of spells to pick. If you just pick up blasting spells you're going to be a one trick pony who can't do anything else. If you pick up only buffs you're going to be limited by the concentration rules, you'll have a bunch of buffs but you can only use one at a time, so you waste a bunch of your picks on any given day.

I think a more reasonable approach is to pick a variety of spells that fit into different use cases. Take your single target blast spell, take your AOE blast spell, take your self-protection spell, take your favorite buff spell, take your "cool thing to do outside combat" spell, etc. Diversify your use cases, not your spells within a single use case. If you want to have every single blasting spell in the game go play an Evocation Wizard, not a Sorcerer.

[Biggstick]

Definitely Controller. Twin and Quicken are amazing spells for this reason.

You can also cause some mayhem by grabbing the Subtle metamagic. Being able to drop a Fireball without verbal or somatic components is incredible. And that's only scratching the surface of what one can do when one doesn't need the verbal or somatic components of casting a spell.

[EvilAnagram]

I don't know if there's a guide around or not. I tend to ignore such threads usually.
But Sorcs can be fan-friggin-tastic controllers due to metamagic.
Single target control effects, which are universally the best ones? Nope, this one's going to target two of you when I Twin it. Heightened speaks for itself on a controller. Extend is pretty useless IMO.... except on a controller.
So on and so forth.
Intelligent Metamagic and spell selection makes Sorcs absolutely amazing controllers.

Don't forget Careful Spell for unfriendly control spells like Web and Grease.

[DivisibleByZero]

Don't forget Careful Spell for unfriendly control spells like Web and Grease.

That was part of the "So on and so forth" part, but yeah. I think he gets the point.

[SharkForce]

as noted, a variety of options is better than focusing on any individual one.

you should be able to blast, but you shouldn't invest more than 3-4 spells in it (i'd even stick with 2, personally; probably fireball and not-fireball, for use when the enemy is immune to fire, but that's just me). well, that plus cantrips, anyways. again, i wouldn't do more than a couple of cantrips. there isn't really a huge amount more that you can do with 10 blasting spells than you can likely do with 2.

you should be able to buff, but here i would spend the least amount of focus... no more than 2 spells, probably haste and either polymorph or greater invisibility (depending on level range; polymorph is too broken to ignore at level 7, but not so great at level 15, for example). you *might* consider one more, for the ability to fly.

you should be able to offer control. personally, this is the area i recommend the most focus. quicken can give you some pretty good burst, but there's lots of people who can burst like a sorcerer, and nothing else really offers what careful spell offers. a variety of saving throws targeted and effects that can be applied is advised. still, don't got nuts, you don't have a lot of spells.

you should have defensive spells. perhaps even as many as you have control spells, even, except this isn't your area of focus, because if it was you would have no reason to need to protect yourself. shield, counterspell, globe of invulnerability are the big 3 to eventually look out for imo, but more isn't a bad idea (potentially, this can overlap somewhat with buffing)

and if you still have anything left, fill it out with utility. if you reach level 17, *make* some room for utility if you don't have any, and take wish, because nothing else is nearly as good.

note that these numbers are generally assuming your final build... at level 1, you obviously can't fit much in.

[rooneg]

note that these numbers are generally assuming your final build... at level 1, you obviously can't fit much in.

FYI, I agree with basically everything SharkForce said, but I think this is worth calling out in particular. I think the spell progression of a balanced Sorcerer build is fascinating and undercovered in the various guide threads. There are a TON of interesting decisions to be made at every level of the early part of the game (say 1-6, at the very least) and maintaining reasonable flexibility at each point is super hard to do.

My default build goes something like this (for a Fire based Draconic Sorcerer):

Level 1: Fire Bolt, 1 non-fire attack cantrip, 2 utility cantrips, Sleep, Shield.
Level 2: Magic Missile or Chromatic Orb
Level 3: Mirror Image
Level 4: Suggestion, whatever cantrip you want
Level 5: Fireball, swap Sleep for Counterspell
Level 6: Haste, swap Magic Missile or Chromatic Orb for Misty Step

Flex slots here are Suggestion (could easily be Web if you have Careful Spell) and Counterspell (could easily be Dispel Magic). There's an argument to be made for keeping Chromatic Orb around as a non-Fire spell, and for picking up Scorching Ray (especially if you don't have Twinned Spell for building a poor man's Scorching Ray out of a Twinned Fire Bolt) instead of Mirror Image.