Divine soul sorcerer cantrips

[Yak]

I’m building a lvl 1 divine soul sorcerer. The rest of the party is a devotion paladin, Druid of some sort and one TBC.
I’m choosing cantrips, and have the following logic:

-Spare the dying: partly for stabilising party members, partly for character reasons: when their power first manifested people nearby died and they swore never to allow that to happen again if they could do anything to prevent it.

- 2 damage dealing spells. Firebolt is the obvious one, but I’m planning dex as my second stat (being rolled), so a light crossbow is probably better early on and fits with the whole discovering my power vibe that is the current character arc. So I’m thinking of leaving roll-to-hit damage dealers until 4th level. Instead, toll the dead for a save-to-hit that targets wis instead of dex or con and will often deal d12. As a second one, shockig grasp: I’ll have a low AC and HP, so if I get put in melee, this gives me a way out instead of disengaging and ‘wasting’ an action.

- 1 utility. Guidance if the Druid doesn’t take it, which they probably will. Minor illusion, prestidigiation or thaumaturgy are all super versatile. Friends, maybe, if paladin isn’t gearing for Face duty.

Any thoughts or ideas warmly received.

[beargryllz]

Guidance, minor illusion, firebolt would be my core loadout

Add light or mage hand as you see fit

You're right, light crossbow will be better early on but you'll outgrow it and probably wish you had a damage cantrip.

Eldritch blast is always a possibility if you dip warlock or burn a feat for magic initiate so if you plan on this you can skip firebolt for something like prestidigitation, mending or spare the dying for slightly more utility

2 damage cantrips is almost definitely a waste. I can't think of many exceptions to this rule except for some Gish builds that want a good melee and a good ranged cantrip

[nickl_2000]

I'm not sure I agree on two damage cantrips being a waste. Having a save DC and an attack roll can be very handy when something had great AC but bad saves.

That being said, the attack roll can wait until you get more cantrips later since you can just shoot them.

Your choices seem solid enough to me though.

[beargryllz]

I can't see myself ever giving up something like light, mage hand, mending, or minor illusion for a second damage cantrip though.

And especially here, there is already the option for a crossbow so having 2 damage cantrips is even more redundant than it would be for a non-elven wizard that doesn't carry around a bow

Not having light available or not being able to open an ominous door or chest from 30 feet away just seems more problematic than not having a third type of damage or guesstimating whether you're slightly more likely to hit VS forcing a save

[Wuzza]

While I'm not familiar with Divine Soul Sorc, I'm guessing it's moving towards a cleric/healing type sub-class?

If this is the case, I'd say Spare the Dying is a waste. You'll have healing from the Paladin, and I'm guessing yourself. If you're going to spend an action, surely it's better to actually heal the character back up into positive than just stabilise. (if you happen to have Healers Kit prof. this makes it even less desirable)

[Pex]

You want two damage Cantrips because of monster resistances. Have a back up when your main Cantrip attack won't work. When facing a monster that is resistant or immune to both that you lump and do something else. Sometimes the rider effect is important.

Take Guidance despite the druid. Unlike the druid you can Twin it.

[Damon_Tor]

I’m building a lvl 1 divine soul sorcerer. The rest of the party is a devotion paladin, Druid of some sort and one TBC.
I’m choosing cantrips, and have the following logic:

-Spare the dying: partly for stabilising party members, partly for character reasons: when their power first manifested people nearby died and they swore never to allow that to happen again if they could do anything to prevent it.

- 2 damage dealing spells. Firebolt is the obvious one, but I’m planning dex as my second stat (being rolled), so a light crossbow is probably better early on and fits with the whole discovering my power vibe that is the current character arc. So I’m thinking of leaving roll-to-hit damage dealers until 4th level. Instead, toll the dead for a save-to-hit that targets wis instead of dex or con and will often deal d12. As a second one, shockig grasp: I’ll have a low AC and HP, so if I get put in melee, this gives me a way out instead of disengaging and ‘wasting’ an action.

- 1 utility. Guidance if the Druid doesn’t take it, which they probably will. Minor illusion, prestidigiation or thaumaturgy are all super versatile. Friends, maybe, if paladin isn’t gearing for Face duty.

Any thoughts or ideas warmly received.

I've never seen the point of Spare the Dying; just buy a med kit. There's zero efficiency in casting Spare the Dying over using a cheap item. Fulfill your character's oath by picking up a healing spell at level 1 (you get it for free).

Just a note, Word of Radiance has some neat synergy with Distant Metamagic, turning it from a 5-foot ("melee") blast to a 10-foot blast. It also doesn't hit allies. It's great for clearing out a bunch of weak enemies on the cheap.

[Jophiel]

I'm not sure I agree on two damage cantrips being a waste. Having a save DC and an attack roll can be very handy when something had great AC but bad saves.

That being said, the attack roll can wait until you get more cantrips later since you can just shoot them.

Your choices seem solid enough to me though.
Yeah, I would consider getting a DC cantrip now and using the crossbow for your AC "cantrip" and then picking up a real AC cantrip when you get your next choice (and at that point you'll soon be making the crossbow obsolete with increase cantrip damage).

[sophontteks]

Spare the dying is pretty weak. Practically useless. It has a range of touch, takes an action, and only stabilizes. You can do this exact thing with a healers kit and save yourself a cantrip. Even better, since you are a divine soul sorcerer, you can just use healing word.

Friends is also very weak when used to make friends. It does not do what you think it does. You can get advantage on social checks with your friends using the help action on the party face, essentially backing up what he says with their own advice and knowhow. Friends is better for the secondary effect, making the opponent hostile. Works really well when combined with disguise self.

Other cantrips may have more use then you think. Check out these links:

Shape water- http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?481560-Creative-Cantrips-Shape-Water
Mage Hand- http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?480938-Creative-Cantrips-Mage-Hand
Control Flames- http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?486812-Creative-Cantrips-Control-Flames&p=20733462#post20733462

[Yak]

Thanks for all the replies.

In case it wasn’t clear, I intend to use spare the dying on humanoid NPCs to stop them from dying. It’s a character thing and I know it’s probably suboptimal, but it ties in with the story written around the character.

Exact details for builds (including races) are going to be done ensemble as session 0. The two I’m considering are half elf and Vuman. If half elf I’ll probably take variant to get another cantrip over two skills. If human, if I don’t need a half-feat to round out stats, then magic initiate is probably the best feat. That other cantrip would be utility.

Having two different damage types in spells is a big consideration, as we don’t know what type of monsters we’ll be up against. But I do know that if we lack another front liner to go with the paladin, the ability to get out of melee without having to disengage is very appealing.

I’m pretty happy to pick up firebolt at level 4.

[Pex]

I've never seen the point of Spare the Dying; just buy a med kit. There's zero efficiency in casting Spare the Dying over using a cheap item. Fulfill your character's oath by picking up a healing spell at level 1 (you get it for free).

Just a note, Word of Radiance has some neat synergy with Distant Metamagic, turning it from a 5-foot ("melee") blast to a 10-foot blast. It also doesn't hit allies. It's great for clearing out a bunch of weak enemies on the cheap.

It's roleplay flavor. It's more clerical to say I cast Spare The Dying than say I use the medicine kit just as it's more wizardry to say I cast Fire Bolt instead of I fire my crossbow. It's also less bookkeeping since you don't have to mark off a healing kit use nor resupply. At low levels every gp counts, so buying a healing kit is not necessarily a trivial thing.