Help building a Storm Sorcerer

[MightyDuck]

I know there are a lot of sorcerer guides but I'm still having trouble building this character, hopefully you wonderful people will be able to help me. I've gone Triton with the sailor background, my stats after racials are; Str 16 Dex 18 Con 16 Int 7 Wis 12 Cha 19 and i have proficiency in persuasion and intimidation. My main issue comes with choosing spells, I'm mostly looking to blast and crowd control but i also want them to fit thematically with the storm sorcerer aesthetic. For cantrips I'm torn between prestidigitation, minor illusion, mage hand, light and all the damage cantrips and for 1st level I'm thinking chromatic orb, fog cloud, mage armor or shield. Any spell suggestions (for any level) or any general build suggestions would be appreciated as well as any combos or strategies you've come up with for the sorcerer (especially the storm sorcerer).

[sophontteks]

See if you can get the triton racial feat. Its not super strong, but ridiculously thematic.

As for spells, choose your metamagics first, then we can narrow it down. You really wanna build around your metamagics.

Storm sorcerers are kind of, well they are really bad without multiclassing. Storm cleric is a great comboz or paladin.

[Laserlight]

Google "Lightning Lord", which is a Tempest cleric / sorc build.

[MightyDuck]

No multiclass in this campaign I'm afraid, cleric doesn't really work rp wise anyway. As for metamagic I don't know what works best, twinned seems to be the most popular but I don't know if it works well with the storm sorcerer, thus why I need help.

If I'd have to choose I'd say quicken and enpower/extend, I'd probably pick up twinned and heightened when I have more sorcery points. But seriously if there is a better option let me know.

[sophontteks]

It will be hard. Storm sorcerers want to be in the front line, but they have nothing that protects them from getting hit.

For metamagic pick one expensive metamagic and one cheap one.

For expensive,
Quicken is just plain good. It will allow you to be more mobile, jumping in and out of the front lines while casting. Making sure you can utilize your kit without getting hit.

Twinned is very expensive. The big draw here is twinned haste and twinned greater invisibility. Both will help you be mobile like quickened. But the spells take slots and its very expensive. If you aren't taking these spells, don't bother with twinned. Its too expensive. Maybe for your third later on.

For cheap,
Empowered is deceptively powerful. Its very cheap and these rerolls add a ton of damage to AOE spells. Pick this is you really want to be a blaster. Fortunately, your kit already supports blasting spells.

Subtle is also deceptively strong. Its not as much supported in your kit though. Subtle casting spells like phantasmal force out of combat is a real game-changer though.

For your spells. Shield is a must pick. Mirror image is a great defensive spell. Thunder step is a must-pick. Lightning strike and shatter are aoes that work with your kit. The rest will depend on your meta magics a bit.

Edit: for cantrips make sure you have light, and shape water. The rest should be two damage cantrips.
Shape water is really strong and thematic. Just read this article on it: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?481560-Creative-Cantrips-Shape-Water

[MightyDuck]

Awesome, that's some great advice! I'm thinking quicken and empowered metamagic and then twinned as 10th level. As for spells should I go for shield or mage armor at lower (considering that my dex mod is +4) and what damaging cantrips would you suggest? (I'd rather avoid firebolt since it doesn't really fit thematically)

[Man_Over_Game]

For the cantrips, it'll probably depend on what your team looks like. If you're expected to be in more melee combat, then Poison Spray might be a solid choice (deals 1d12 damage) when combined with your solid mobility. A Quick Casted Booming Blade can also be a cool combination when you follow through with a level 1 spell (so you can immediately move away). Booming Blade gets another +1 since your Dexterity is so good.

Frostbite is good, as is Ray of Frost for thematic and synergistic spells for your playstyle, and Shocking Grasp can help you if you're low on spell slots. I guess Thunderclap can be an option, too, if you don't have access to Thunderwave for some reason. Ray of Frost is more synergistic, but Frostbite targets Constitution saves, which is pretty unique for a cantrip.

I'd recommend, in this order:
Frostbite
Booming Blade
Ray of Frost
Shocking Grasp
Poison Spray
Thunderclap

Of course, Gust, Shape Water, and Minor Illusion can all be thematic RP based cantrips. I'd recommend 2 combat cantrips for every 1 RP cantrip.

[MightyDuck]

I love booming blade thematically and it would appear to work really well with Tempestuous Magic but considering I'm only proficient with daggers and quarterstaff is it really an optimal choice, or am I missing something?!

[Man_Over_Game]

It still does 1d4 + 4 (6.5 average) damage before including the thunder-on-movement effect. Compare this with Shocking Grasp, a 1d8 (or 4.5 average).

If your Dexterity was closer to +2, I'd say that Shocking Grasp was a little bit better, but with a +4, Booming Blade, even with just a dagger, is still a great choice.

[Joe the Rat]

Once you gain levels, the weapon is the delivery system for the xd8, +(x+1)d8 if they move. Boomer and Shocking Grasp for up close, Ray of Frost (slows) for range.

It's not an op favorite, but I think thunderwave is incredibly on theme. Moving forward, wind and sea are the go-to elemental effects for crowd control. Sleet storm... holy crap.

[sophontteks]

The only reason a storm sorcerer wants to be up front is when they are casting level 1+ spells. None of their abilities proc on cantrips. They should focus on ranged at least just to stay away from a new blank character sheet.

Booming blade does not work with tempestual magic nor heart of the storm.

[MightyDuck]

The only reason a storm sorcerer wants to be up front is when they are casting level 1+ spells. None of their abilities proc on cantrips. They should focus on ranged at least just to stay away from a new blank character sheet.

Booming blade does not work with tempestual magic nor heart of the storm.

I think the idea is that you quicken booming blade and then cast a level 1+ spell to escape and trigger heart of the storm, not sure how useful this would be at lower levels though, due to low spell slots and sorcery points. I'll probably take this at a higher level but I still need 1 more cantrip to start with, I currently have shape water, Ray of frost and light.

[Man_Over_Game]

Best skirmisher strategy:

Ray of Frost + Quickened Ray of Frost.

Reduce their speed by 20, so it's now roughly 10. Even if they dash, they only move 20 feet. Back up 30 feet and repeat. I'd probably get REALLY mad if I was a 30 speed boss.

Not sure how I didn't notice that before.
[Edit] Nevermind, that doesn't work. Balls.

[sophontteks]

I think the idea is that you quicken booming blade and then cast a level 1+ spell to escape and trigger heart of the storm, not sure how useful this would be at lower levels though, due to low spell slots and sorcery points. I'll probably take this at a higher level but I still need 1 more cantrip to start with, I currently have shape water, Ray of frost and light.
I'm pretty sure you can't quicken the cantrip first and then cast a normal spell. You can quicken a normal spell and then cast a cantrip, but that wouldn't work out. It's a bit silly and your DM may allow it though.


Best skirmisher strategy:

Ray of Frost + Quickened Ray of Frost.

Reduce their speed by 20, so it's now roughly 10. Even if they dash, they only move 20 feet. Back up 30 feet and repeat. I'd probably get REALLY mad if I was a 30 speed boss.

Not sure how I didn't notice that before.
[Edit] Nevermind, that doesn't work. Balls.
Ooh, how about this too...

OP's a triton and will have gust of wind too. Quicken gust of wind, knock them back 15 feet, fly back another 10 feet, and then cast ray of frost.

Their movement is reduced by 10, and it costs double movement to move towards the caster. Repeat every round

[Man_Over_Game]

Why wouldn't it work out? You can cast two spells in the same turn, as long as one of the two spells is a cantrip. Quicken doesn't say it only works for leveled spells

Is there something else we're missing?

[Edit] Just looked it up, I was wrong. The level'd spell can be cast as a bonus action, but the main action has to be used as a cantrip for it to work.

[sophontteks]

Why wouldn't it work out? You can cast two spells in the same turn, as long as one of the two spells is a cantrip. Quicken explicitly says you can use it on Cantrips.

Is there something else we're missing?

[Edit] Just looked it up, was wrong. The level'd spell can be cast as a bonus action, but the main action has to be used as a cantrip for it to work.
The wording is. if you cast a spell, any spell, as a bonus action, you can only cast a cantrip after. So if you quicken a cantrip you can only cast another cantrip with your action.

EDIT: Oh, you ninja edited me. I also ninja edited a response to your skirmisher tactic.

[Galadhrim]

Can't you just use booming blade as your action and then quicken the leveled spell (now cast as a bonus action)? That seems to fit fine within the rules. You are still casting a leveled spell so everything should trigger. Am I missing something there?

[Trampaige]

The storm sorcerer flight ability is a bonus action, so... A lot of this doesn't work.

[Man_Over_Game]

The storm sorcerer flight ability is a bonus action, so... A lot of this doesn't work.

HAH, don't know how the hell I missed that.

Welp, I'm an idiot. Good call.

After looking into it, Earth Tremor is a great combo for the Storm Sorcerer.

Knock all adjacent enemies prone, dealing minor damage, and create a patch of non-magical difficult terrain. It's a level 1 spell, so you can just fly out of there.

[sophontteks]

Oh my bad. I thought it was a reaction. Its been a while since I played him. Now I remember why the feature was so frusterating.

[sophontteks]

OK. Forgive me for giving shakey advice while I was at work. Tempestuous magic is a bonus action. Geeze. Now I remember why I didn't take quicken. So, I'm home. I pulled up my Triton character. Here's what I was going to do mixed with some of the advice here. I didn't do cantrips. I think whats best there is in the air a bit.

Metamagic- Empower and twinned
Since the mobility thing keys off a bonus action, and that's like, all the fun. It seemed a waste to use quicken. Instead I was going to use haste. So much good stuff with haste. +2 AC, double movement, and a free action we can use to dodge or withdraw. With twinned I can give this to myself and my main tank. Its like concentrating on 2 spells for 1. Greater invisibility later will be even better. Casting and attacking doesn't break the invisibility, so giving that to 2 people is just freaking nuts.

Empower, because storm sorcerers seem like blasters to me.

Spells
1- Mage Armor, Earth Tremor- Mage armor because shield doesn't play with tempestuous magic and we want to cast more leveled spells to proc tempestuous magic more often anyway.
Someone suggested earth tremor and that sounds great. I was going to go chaos bolt, but earth tremor works so much better with tempestuous magic early on.

2- Absorb elements-Its a really good, thematic defense spell. The extra damage next turn applies to melee attacks, which would include melee spells (or booming blade if you go that route).

3- Shatter- Solid AOE that works great with empowered.

4- Mirror Image- Amazing defense spell, even more amazing with the OP's high dex. EDIT: Levitate would also be interesting here! Along with enlarge/reduce, which I didn't pick purely because its not thematic.

5- Haste, Thunder Step (Earth Tremor)- Twinning haste will be strong. Thunder step is the pen-ultimate thematic spell. You can use tempestuous magic before you cast too! Move in, fly right into the heart of the enemies, and teleport out while dealing a hefty 3d10 to all of them. Empower if you low roll. Earth Tremor has run its course. By level 6 we wanna do thunder and lightning damage.

6- Lightning Bolt- Now we are dealing extra damage whenever we cast lightning or thunder damage to everything near us. Shatter, Lightning bolt, and thunder step are the bread and butter. Between haste and tempestuous magic, positioning for the best lightning bolt will be a breeze.

7- Greater invisibility- This is as far as I ever planned out. But the obvious level 4 pick is greater invisibility. Is it thematic? Well to anyone watching you have literally become a storm.

[MightyDuck]

Those are some good suggestions, I may go for chromatic orb or thunderwave instead of earth tremor but other than that I've got a much better idea of what spells to go for. I'm still conflicted over can't rips, so far I've got Ray of frost, shape water and light but I can't decide on a second damaging cantrip, i like booming blade but I'm not sure how it would work without quickened metamagic.

[sophontteks]

Great! Its hard. No way around it. I love sorcerers but with such limited spell selection its a lot of work researching. I'm still back and forth on my wild sorcerer.

Watch out with chromatic orb. It takes a 50gp diamond as a material component snd you won't be finding one just lying around at level 1. By the time you find one, it'll already be on its way out.

Catapult is very useful though and only does 2 less damage on average. Flinging objects can br flavored as a sudden gust of wind. It has uses outside of just dealing damage too. You can instigate fights if they don't notice you casting it (its somatic only and you aren't the focal point of the spell.) I also haven't found any reason why you can't ready it against a projectile being fired.

[Man_Over_Game]

Frostbite is a great cantrip. My only concern with it is that you'd be rolling with two cold-damage cantrips, so if something happened to be resistant, you'd have a hard time.

Shocking Grasp is another option, but it's kind of redundant with your movement feature.

If a second cold spell is out, and Shocking Grasp/Booming Blade are out, and fire spells are out, that basically leaves:

Acid Splash, Poison Spray, Chill Touch or Infestation. Poison Spray and Infestation are pretty bad, so your other choices are Acid Splash (good against groups) or Chill Touch (Necrotic damage, with bonus effects against undead).

[MightyDuck]

Shocking grasp isn't entirely redundant, it gives me an escape when I don't have any level 1+ spells, I don't really like any of the other cantrips thematically and I don't want more than 1 cold cantrip. What I really want is for booming blade to work but I'm not sure if it will be viable, I suppose I could twin BB (I assume thats possible) and I guess I can get up to 17 AC with mage armor, so maybe its feasible.

[MightyDuck]

How does this look for an end game spell list?! There are a few really thematic spells (Tidal Wave, storm sphere, Control Winds, etc.) that i couldn't really justify using, but if anyone has any suggestions, strategies or cool ideas, that would be appriciated.

Cantrips
Shape Water
Light
Ray of Frost
Booming Blade
Minor Illusion
Lightning Lure

1st Level
Mage armor
Shield

2nd Level
Mirror Image
Shatter
Suggestion

3rd Level
Lightning Bolt
Thunderstep
Haste

4th Level
Greater Invisibility

5th Level
Animate Objects

6th level
Chain Lighting
Mass suggestion

7th Level
Crown Of Stars
Whirlwind

8th Level
-

9th Level
Meteor Swarm or Wish

[DiscipleofBob]

Played a Storm Sorcerer up to level 10. I got the most use from Shocking Grasp (advantage against foes in metal and no reaction), Lightning Lure, Chromatic Orb, and Storm Sphere. If you’re level 1 and can’t afford the material component for Chromatic Orb, Witch Bolt is a less preferable alternative that I’d swap out as soon as possible. I got Elemental Adept Lightning as a feat as soon as possible then it’s just a matter of maxing out your casting stat. Warcaster and Spellbook Sniper are worthy feats after that.

I got a lot of mileage out of Storm Sphere. It single handedly won me a PvP battle royale. Like combining Fireball and Cloudkill with repeating Scorching Rays but with Lightning damage.

Edit: Also because I didn’t see it, Firebolt is good backup cantrip for range.

My spell list also included Thunderwave, Misty Step, and Blink.