Min/Max for Sorcerer

[ajrockstarr]

Running a campaign starting at level 3, going to 20, need an outlines guide for feats ,ASI, spells to take. Any and all builds welcome.

[Xihirli]

EvilAnagram released this player's guide (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?457552-How-to-Rend-Fiends-and-Immolate-People-A-Guide-to-Sorcery/page8).

Basics:

Stat priority;
CHA, CON, DEX, WIS, INT, STR (swap those last two if you feel like it). You won't know many spells so if they overlap replace one. Your first Metamagics will guide your build a lot so more information is welcome. What do you know about the setting? How are you determining stats? Are feats allowed?

Vuman is really good for Shadow Sorcerer since Vuman's main weakness is a lack of darkvision and Shadow Sorcerer just gives you amazing Darkvision that doesn't stack with racial.

What do you want to do with your Sorcerer? I once made a very effective Yuan-Ti Support Caster Divine Soul Sorcerer. Your allies will really like Twinned Haste and, if it comes to it, Twinned Revivify.

[ajrockstarr]

The setting so far is fairly generic, I’m looking to optimize for Damage, we have a skill monkey Bard, a Paladin, and a rogue

[Xihirli]

Dragon Sorcerer tends to boost damage output and gives you the best arcane caster AC in the game save Hexblade.

For damage and battlefield control you'll probably want Twin and Heighten, with Empower and Quicken later on. Decent feats to take include Magic Initiate: Warlock for Hex and Eldritch Blast (can be Twinned), you you might want to keep the feat open for Elemental Adept to overcome resistance with whatever Draconic Ancestry you pick. Heightening your Fireballs and Dominate Monsters will never steer you wrong.
Your best races will be Tiefling (CHA and bonus spells), Yuan-Ti (CHA, bonus spells, advantage on saving throws vs magic), Vumans (feats are nice, take the Light cantrip), and maybe one of the +1 CHA races (Dragonborn, Tabaxi, Drow [bonus spells]).

How are you getting your stats?

[ajrockstarr]

We’re using point buy, also what spells are you guys personally finding the most useful? Haven’t looked through Xanathars yet I’ve heard the INT save snypatic shock I think it was, was pretty decent I hear.

[CTurbo]

Half-Elf Draconic Sorcerer starting with 8 Str, 16 Dex, 16 Con, 8 Int, 10 Wis, 16 Cha

+2 Cha at level 4
+2 Dex at level 8
+2 Cha at level 12
+2 Dex at level 16
Elemental Adept at 19 maybe?





Boring? yes. Effective? yes.

[Xihirli]

Off the top of my head:

Vuman, Point Buy
(http://chicken-dinner.com/5e/5e-point-buy.html#human&humanvariant&9&14&13&8&13&15&3&6&27&15&8&19&15&12&9&7&5&4&3&2&1&0&1&2&4&6&9&4&4&4&4&4&4)

Skills: Perception from race, Insight and Arcana from class (your bard should handle CHA skills), maybe Acrobatics and Survival from your background. If your DM doesn't use the Knowledge (Arcana) rules from Xanathar's don't bother with it, your bard can ritual cast Identify.
Starting Feat: Elemental Adept (Fire)
4th level ASI: +2 CHA
8th level ASI: Magic Initiate (Warlock) - Hex, Eldritch Blast, other cantrip (you can twin Booming/Green Flame blade but you have to go into melee)
12th level ASI: +2 CHA
Further feats to consider: Resilient (Wis), Ritual Caster (Wizard).

Dragon Sorcerer, Draconic Ancestry Brass, Red, one of the fire ones. Metamagics in order: Heighten, Twin, Quicken, Empower.
Must-have spells: Haste, Fireball, Shield, Chromatic Orb, Suggestion, Scorching Ray, Mirror Image, Counterspell.

Basically, the light blue spells in the guide I linked are what you want. You don't need all of them, you can ignore the ones that require melee and the ones that overlap in function. I might consider swapping Scorching Ray after you get Eldritch Blast.

[Asmotherion]

So, the first thing to look up is your Race.

If you're optimising, you want something that gives you a +2 to Charisma most certenly. The most "Vanilla" option is Half Elf. Vanilla as in, you're PHB and don't get people calling you a Devil in your face. Extra skills (or a variant ability, including but not limited to extra speed, cantrips or profficiency with elf weapons), imunity to magical sleep, and the general RP of, you know, being partially an Elf, which is awesome, if you're into that trope.

Tiefling is also a Great Option, if you can afford the Heavier RP. If you are allowed the Winged Variant, go for it. You're not nececerally Evil, which is a plus, and you resist Fire. If not Winged you get Hellish Rebuke and Thaumaturgy, as well as Burning Hands, all of them generally good spells. If you have wings well... you HAVE WINGS! You're cool like that. There are other Tiefling Variants too, check it out.

Aasimar from Volo's are amazing; You look like a regular human or a very tall half elf most of the time, and either get Long Rest Wings (and a Buff to your Damage wile they are Manifested) or other cool abilities. You also get to cast the Light(?) or Dancing Lights(?) Cantrip for free, so you can be a good sport in case you have a weak-eyed human or halfing that can't see in the dark in your party

Yuan Ti are also cool, yet a Monster Race. If you can afford to be a Monster, it's also an amazing race. Gives you bonus spells and cantrips (just like Tiefling). You're generally short on Spells, so it's a cool thing. You're also a Parceltonge (a la Harry Potter).

All of the above get Darkvision too BTW. But nowdays everyone gets Darkvision, so it's hardly worth the mention.

Bloodline:

Since we're talking Optimisation, The top IMO Are Dragonic, Divine and Shadow. The rest pale in comparison.

-Dragonic: You'll notice I still Included Dragonic, even put it 1st in the front row. Yes, that's right. Wile Divine and Shadow are Amazing, I still believe Dragonic Bloodline is Top Tier, depending on your Playstyle. You get extra HP per HD, Dragonscales which translates roughly to Permanent Mage Armor (without using a spell slot), and a good Scaling Fireball. Also, here is a Fact: Dragons are Cooler and more Awesome. Wile you don't get a cool capstone, you get Wings that Appear/Disapear at-will at 14th level (and the Divine Sorcerer was jelly so he got a pair like yours), and if you can convince your DM how silly the Errata about applying your extra damage was, your are more than buff. If not, you can at least argue about getting Dragon's Breath for free at level 3 as a freaking Dragonic Origin Sorcerer; I bet you it would be there if the spell went out with the PHB anyway.

-Divine: You learn your pick between Arcane and Divine Spells, making you kind of a Gestalt Sorcerer/Cleric, limited only (alas Greatly) by your VERY [Emphasis mine] limited Spells Known list. That said, what are you even complaining about? You have Magic Initiate, and you'll probably Dip a couple levels of Warlock to Grab your Ultimate Offence (Quicken Agonising Eldritch Blast like a Minigun) anyway, and grab Armor of Agathys and Hex along the way, so, together with your potential Racial Spells, the only 1st level Arcane spell you definitelly Want to know is Shield. Then, like a good Hexblade multiclass, put on your Medium Armor, have at least a 14 Dexterity, and use a shield for an easy 19 AC. Shield of Faith makes this 21, and the Shield Spell buffs it up to 27, so you can Tank as long as you have spell slots (and you can convey Sorcery Points to more spell slots if you need more Shield Spells on Demand). Booming Blade, Spiritual Weapon and Spiritual Guardians together can Pack a lot of DPT, wile Armor of Agathys and potentially Hellish Rebuke makes sure you punish anyone who hits you back. If you ever are in a position were you can't affort to take any more Damage, you Buff you AC via Shield of Faith and then Shield, and very few things can realistically hit you with an AC of 27 unless they roll a natural 20. I'll admit it's generally the versalite one, especially for a gish.

Shadow Sorcery: If lurking in the shadows and using minions and stealth is more your thing, this is perfect for you. You'll be using the Darkness spell a LOT, and when you cast it with your Sorcery Points, you can see through it. You are practically playing a Ghost/Vampire. You'll also be summoning shadow demonic dogs. Think of Alucard. You will gradually turn into Alucard as you level up, literally. At 14th level you teleport from shadow to shadow, at-will.That's right, because you're a freaking semi-living vampire. The ninja is not the only one who can do that stuff any more! Your capstone is Resistance to almost all damage, and Phasing through things. Combining the right spell selections, you can literally be Alucard by level 18. Alucard is probably one of the most powerful characters in Anime History, and that's saying a lot. If you like the vampire trope, and shadow magic, you do want to be like Alucard. Shadow Sorcery is the thing for you.

[TheUser]

My Guide tends to go over well in other communities (see my signature).

Based on what you've described Draconic Sorcerer with Empower is mandatory

Draconic Sorcerer gives you that early level 1 spell slot/spell known with permanent mage armor and the +1hp per level essentially makes you a d8 hit dice class.

If you go for a Half-Elf you can Start 16 dex and 16 con to have 8hp/level and 16 base AC.

As for Spells I'd say that Shatter and Shield will be mandatory with some flex room for 2 other spells.

Empowered Draconic Fireballs do more than 33% more damage than regular fireballs with an average fireball of 28 damage going up to 38 at level 6 and 39 at level 8 if you empower. It's honestly a stifling levle of damage output and if you use 3-dimensional space to aim well and give yourself stealth training you can get some pretty devastating surprise rounds (before allies and enemies start closing distance with each other and enemies spread out).

Hope this helps.

[ajrockstarr]

Thanks guys I appreciate all the info, got any must take spells in mind?

[TheUser]

Thanks guys I appreciate all the info, got any must take spells in mind?

Shatter -> cycle it out at level 7
Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Wall of Fire, and Synaptic Static are amazing.

[wallyd2]

Running a campaign starting at level 3, going to 20, need an outlines guide for feats ,ASI, spells to take. Any and all builds welcome.

I recently joined a campaign where I play a Level 11 Shadow Sorcerer. We stream on a Twitch channel on Wednesday nights. He is a Mountain Dwarf named Ulfgar Brazzik.

For feats, I chose TOUGH, because my Shadow Sorcerer was a former infantry soldier and still likes to run into battle with his battle axe. So, more HP was an absolute must. I also chose SKILLED because my build only gave me 4 proficient skills... and I wanted a few more. :)

I am loving the build so far. My Hound of Ill-Omen (named him Stout) is super fun. The Metamagic I chose are Quickened, Twinned and Heightened. All of which help out when Ulfgar decides to charge in with his battle axe.

Anyway, my character build is online (character sheets for all levels 1-11) if you want to take a gander at what I did. Plus, there is also a video of my character creation.

Wally DM - Mountain Dwarf Shadow Sorcerer Build (http://www.wallydm.com/dnd-5e-shadow-sorcerer-character-build-ulfgar-brazzik/)

Good luck! Hope you choose Shadow Sorcerer! :)