Oops, my Storm Sorcerer sucks! How do I fix him?

[IncredibleThulk]

Hi everyone,

I'm in need of your advice. I'm new to playing a magic user, and thought it would be fun to create an Air Genasi Storm Sorcerer. For creative RP purposes he's focused only on storm or charismatic(eg. charm person) related magic. I thought making him flawed and not min-maxing him would make for very interesting play, but he's been unconscious two times in his first three levels, and I feel increasingly like he's pretty useless. I fully admit, I'm probably playing him wrong.

But overall, what can I do to make him better going forward? Should I multiclass him to something like Bard, Paladin or Tempest Cleric?

Here's the rundown:
LVL 3

Stats
STR - 9
INT - 9
DEX - 17
WIS - 12
CON - 13
CHA - 18

Cantrips
Frostbite
Lightning Lure
Gust
Thunderclap

1st Level Spells
Fog Cloud
Thunderwave
Charm Person
Ice Knife
Jump

2nd Level Spells
Levitate
Snilloc's Snowball Swarm
Gust of Wind

[Specter]

Honestly, I'd just change the stats, from highest to lowest: CHA, CON, DEX, WIS, INT-STR. The spell selection is fine, just trade Jump for Mage Armor and putMisty Step in there.

[Lombra]

How are you playing it? Who are the other party members? Going down some times in the first levels is actually pretty normal.

[strangebloke]

You're fine.

One you get an ASI, up your dex and con. That will net you several HP. 14 con is fine for most non melee builds.

Spells are mostly ok. Jump has questionable utility, but charm person, levitate, and the damaging spells are all fine. Shield and mage armor are both good if you have survivability issues.

I'd actually guess that the bigger problem here is your tactics, party comp, or maybe your DM. Going down in low levels is pretty common, but if you're feeling weak, well... You really shouldn't.

[NecroDancer]

I'd suggest getting either the shield spell or mage armor if you want some extra protection.

[IncredibleThulk]

Honestly, I'd just change the stats, from highest to lowest: CHA, CON, DEX, WIS, INT-STR. The spell selection is fine, just trade Jump for Mage Armor and putMisty Step in there.

Unfortunately, the game has started, and my DM isn't the type to let me change anything after it's been set and in play. But thank you for the tip. I think I'd make the change as you suggest if I could.

[IncredibleThulk]

You're fine.

One you get an ASI, up your dex and con. That will net you several HP. 14 con is fine for most non melee builds.

Spells are mostly ok. Jump has questionable utility, but charm person, levitate, and the damaging spells are all fine. Shield and mage armor are both good if you have survivability issues.

I'd actually guess that the bigger problem here is your tactics, party comp, or maybe your DM. Going down in low levels is pretty common, but if you're feeling weak, well... You really shouldn't.

Thanks for the encouragement. I'll work on my tactics. Every time I've been taken down, it was because I tried doing something cool. eg. Crit stealth into a group of goblins, thunderwave them (killing them instantly), but the sound alerts goblins in a distant watchtower, who then shoot me down.

If my DM lets me switch out Jump, I will

[IncredibleThulk]

How are you playing it? Who are the other party members? Going down some times in the first levels is actually pretty normal.

I'm playing fairly cautiously. The rest of the party is two rogues, and a ranger. So, I've been trying to conserve spell slots for opportune times where I can use them to the greatest effect. Might just be that I'm not used to the low HP.

[Saiga]

You can retrain Sorceror spells on a level up, so I would do that to change Jump if you don't want it.

If you can afford the 50gp diamond for Chromatic Orb, that is a solid first level spell that can do Lightning, Acid or Cold damage meaning it covers a lot of your bases for flavour.

[Belltent]

Unfortunately, the game has started, and my DM isn't the type to let me change anything after it's been set and in play. But thank you for the tip. I think I'd make the change as you suggest if I could.

Sigh, my suggestion was gonna be to ask if you can reroll as a tempest cleric.

Sorcerers require the niche-est builds, one or two wrong choices and they feel very ineffective. On top of that, storm sorc abilities expect you to be enemy adjacent but don't give you any way to tank through the inevitable wall of pain that will accompany that tactic.

The shield and mirror image spells are your best bet for survivability, but in my opinion your *better* best bet is to say "oh god oh god oh god, DM, I didn't know this would be so little fun. Can I please please pretty please take the same character, rearrange his stats, and make him a tempest cleric? The fluffy changes are neglible and the effective changes are I won't hate myself."

Storm Sorcerer was my first 5e character (played it til level 7 and it never got better) and it almost soured me on the entire game.

Edit: As for multiclassing, you don't have the stats to get to paladin, not for 2 more ASIs. Tempest cleric isn't a terrible idea. (although you'll need to buff WIS 1 point) Sorcerer gives you more lightning spells with which to use the maximize channel divinity. Bard will give you inspiration dice (which I use solely for their ability to decrease incoming attack or damage rolls, increasing your survivability.) Warlock will make you a bonkers-level effective blaster via quickening Eldritch Blast.

[alchahest]

I'd say follow the advice for upping your Dex and Con at your first ASI, and start looking at spellswaps. shield is vital, especially as you get more spell slots (and with sorcery points you can get a lot more uses of shield out of higher level slots than normal!)

For metamagic, heightened will help with your lightning bolts and other save spells.
Remember you cannot twin multi-target spells, so lightning bolts are off the list for that, but Twinning haste is great, as is twinning enlarge/reduce (Enlarge your party's grappler, reduce the bad guy grappler!)
Subtle is incredibly useful in a variety of situations, including casting in silence.

remember that you get 10 feet of no-opportunity attack movement every time you cast a spell! can definitely help with getting out of melee range when needed.

[Sir cryosin]

Unfortunately, the game has started, and my DM isn't the type to let me change anything after it's been set and in play. But thank you for the tip. I think I'd make the change as you suggest if I could.

When you level you can change a spell out for a different one

[clash]

Others have mentioned it but allow me to reiterate. Mage armor is your friend. While it is common for characters the go down a fair bit at low levels the common assumption is that players all have 15+ ac off the start and that it gets to 17+ as the game progresses. for those with light armor this is achieved by starting with light armor and +3 dex mod for 15 ac, with medium armor 14 + 1 or dex dex mod 15-16 for heavy armor chain mail starts at 16. For Wizards and sorcerers who have no armor the expectancy is using mage armor and at least +2 dex for 15 ac.

[alchahest]

a great point for mage armor as well is that it isn't concentration - you can cast and forget and have a much better AC for the next 8 hours.

[IncredibleThulk]

Thanks everyone! I've switched Jump for Shield, and I've revisited my tactics, especially now that I have Quicken Spell at my disposal. I'll do my best with him, but if anything terrible were to happen, I've got an Aarakocra Fighter (Archery) lined up to follow.

[Specter]

Thanks everyone! I've switched Jump for Shield, and I've revisited my tactics, especially now that I have Quicken Spell at my disposal. I'll do my best with him, but if anything terrible were to happen, I've got an Aarakocra Fighter (Archery) lined up to follow.

When you think about it, having Shield without Mage Armor is much worse than having Mage Armor without Shield.

Mage Armor: +3AC for 8 hours
Shield: +5AC for one round

[IncredibleThulk]

When you think about it, having Shield without Mage Armor is much worse than having Mage Armor without Shield.

Mage Armor: +3AC for 8 hours
Shield: +5AC for one round

I guess Mage Armor would be better for that long lasting support.

[strangebloke]

I guess Mage Armor would be better for that long lasting support.

You'll get both eventually. Don't sweat it.

[TheUser]

Make him a draconic sorcerer....lol

[Citan]

Hi everyone,

I'm in need of your advice. I'm new to playing a magic user, and thought it would be fun to create an Air Genasi Storm Sorcerer. For creative RP purposes he's focused only on storm or charismatic(eg. charm person) related magic. I thought making him flawed and not min-maxing him would make for very interesting play, but he's been unconscious two times in his first three levels, and I feel increasingly like he's pretty useless. I fully admit, I'm probably playing him wrong.

But overall, what can I do to make him better going forward? Should I multiclass him to something like Bard, Paladin or Tempest Cleric?

Here's the rundown:
LVL 3

Stats
STR - 9
INT - 9
DEX - 17
WIS - 12
CON - 13
CHA - 18

Cantrips
Frostbite
Lightning Lure
Gust
Thunderclap

1st Level Spells
Fog Cloud
Thunderwave
Charm Person
Ice Knife
Jump

2nd Level Spells
Levitate
Snilloc's Snowball Swarm
Gust of Wind
Hi!
I'd say your main problem is having too many odd stats. XD
As for spells, now you have Shield, next priority is Mage Armor, unless you grab an armor proficiency somewhere. ;)

So.
Basically.

1) Go for DEX armor: on level 4, grab the +1 DEX and +1 CON. Also learn Shocking Grasp, how you could not learn that one? XD
2) Go for Cleric multiclass: on level 4, pick Resilient: Wisdom (so you have decent to good saves in all important stats and get the required 13), then multiclass Cleric, if possible after getting 3rd level spells as Sorcerer.

Honestly if you really feel you are squishy the 2nd option is far above the first: you don't care about having a weapon (Shocking Grasp FTW o/) so you can wield heavy armor if you don't care about losing speed, or medium armor otherwise, plus wielding a shield in your off-hand.

Problem is, you are delaying your Sorcerer progression for 2 whole levels (because now that you dipped Tempest Cleric 1, you definitely want the specific Channel Divinity).

Tough choice. ;)

[polymphus]

Eh, unconscious a lot in early levels =/= bad. My Shadow Monk/Rogue spent 1-3 getting hurled around like a paper doll and by 6 he was a god amongst men.

As mentioned, grab mage armour and use your next ASI to balance out some of those stats. You'll be fine.