Make the best single class melee sorcerer.

[SirVladamir]

Yes, you read that right.

Start at lvl 5 progress to lvl 12.
Only PHB races, but XGtE and SCAG subraces, sub classes, and spells.
Standard 27 point stat buy
Assume a large (6-7 PCs) party with a mix of lots of things. Could have some influence on a few character choices.
Concentration spells mainly used for CC.

[Rukelnikov]

Flying tieflings allowed?

[SirVladamir]

Flying tieflings allowed?

Umm, sure I guess, not sure how that drives an entire build looking to melee things though.

[Kane0]

Mobile feat for a flyby attack sort of setup I guess?

[strangebloke]

Is UA/happyfuntime allowed?

'cause if so, stone sorc and giant sorc will clean up.

[SirVladamir]

Is UA/happyfuntime allowed?

'cause if so, stone sorc and giant sorc will clean up.

nope, not allowed

[Naanomi]

Half-Elf
8/16/16/8/8/17
Elven Accuracy, +2 DEX, +2 DEX, +2 CHA, ?Warcaster?

Quicken SCAG cantrips with Shadow Blade...

Dragon Sorcerer to increase Green-Flame blade damage and for a minor AC boost... or Shadow Sorcerer if someone else in the party can generate Darkness to exploit?

[strangebloke]

Alright, assuming no stone or giant sorcerer,

Drow Half-Elf Red Dragon Sorcerer 20

Dragon, because free mage armor and extra HP is literally all I want here. Divine Soul allows spirit guardians, but honestly that's not my interest too much. Oh yeah, and Draconic gives flight which is also something I dearly dearly want. There's probably an argument for a drow shadow sorc at low levels, but this is a level 20 build. We're going all the way to the top.
Half-Elf Variant for stats, replacing skill versatility with Elf Weapon Training. Mewl at the DM to let you take 'drow weapon training' so that you can use a rapier instead of a shortsword but honestly its only 1 damage.



Starting Statline: 8/16/16/8/8/17

We're going to be needing a lot of feats, so as with a sorcadin build we need to start with an aggressive statline.



Skills/Background:Criminal/Intimidation, Deception, Stealth, Thieve's Tools, Persuasion

Basically just be the party face with some flair for seasoning. Obviously this doesn't actually matter too much.



Metamagic:3rd: Quicken, Careful. 10th:Empower 17th:Heighten

Quicken is the panic button at low levels that lets this character disengage suddenly or dodge to keep the AC respectable.
Empower is just efficient and strong. It's like a Battlemaster die in that you don't have to use it until you need it. Rolled 2 ones on that firebolt? No you didn't. I didn't go with it early on because we're not going to be casting big, DPR spells. Ultimately, staying alive is more important.
Careful is here because of hypnotic pattern. Still counts as melee if you're in the middle of the sleeping mooks!
Twin is also a solid low level choice typically, and it would be a strong choice here, but in this challenge we're playing a greedy monster and don't want to share our buffs.
Heighten is just one of those things that by 17th level, you'll be kicking yourself for not having.


ASI progression: 4th: Warcaster, 8th: Elven Accuracy, 12th: Inspiring Leader 16th: +2 DEX 19th: +2 DEX

Warcaster for the boost to saves, basically. If we can get a Booming or Greenflame Blade off, even better, but I'm not counting on it.
EA is there because as you'll see, we'll always be trying to attack with advantage, particularly past level 5 or so.
Inspiring Leader because, even though we're a greedy bastard, We're desperately in need of HP and Inspiring Leader is more efficient than Tough or +2 CON
+2 DEX because honestly it's more important than Charisma here, and by these levels we'll have heighten to manage DCs anyway.


Cantrips: Booming Blade, Greenflame Blade, Bladeward, Sword burst, Minor Illusion, Prestidigitation
Blade cantrips need no explanation.
Blade Ward is doubling down on the turtling strategy. Quicken Blade Ward, dodge, then use reaction to cast shield.

SpellsObviously not going through these in obsessive detail. I will just his the highlights.

Levels 1-4: Faerie Fire is the goto spell here. Don't really use cantrips that much. TWF is stronger at these leves. 2d6 + 3 and you're probably keeping pace with the party fighter.
Levels 5-9: Careful Hypnotic Pattern centered on self when getting mobbed. Using cantrips more. Still using faerie fire sometimes. More often, using Haste for cantrip, attack, TWF attack. Blindness/Deafness is our goto for getting advantage in combination with Haste, until we switch out Faerie fire for Greater Invisibility. Casting Shield and Mirror Image regularly now. Shadow Blade is a waste of time here with only one attack. Can't twin weapon cantrips, apparently. Careful Thunderstep +Quickened Booming Blade to leave mobs behind and pick off targets. Occasionally cast quickened hold person for a pseudo-smite. Polymorph for when we run out of gas.
Levels 10-15: Tenser's Transformation is not a sorcerer spell, and we're all very upset. Honestly there's very few actually good melee oriented spells here. This is the weak point of the build, or would be except that we're flying all the time now, which makes our desired strat of isolating targets a whole lot easier. High Level spells get used for dropping fat nukes on the enemy like fireball and chain lightning. Quickening out a cantrip is pretty much just worth it at this point
Levels 16-20: No good spells here either. No really sexy features. You're kinda stuck! Good news is, you can be a lot more free with your resources now. Casting Heightened Hold Monster, then following up with a Quickened Cantrip isn't going to make your party look at you sideways anymore.




HP: On par with a d10 class that had 14 CON, until you get Inspiring Leader at which point you blow them all out of the water.
AC: generally low. 16 is decent for the early game. Mid-game, Haste, Greater Invisibility and Mirror image do the dirty work. Late-Game you can just spam shield as much as needed.

Damage should be fine. You'll keep up with martials who don't specialize in that thing and you'll have good AOE options still, thanks to Empower and Careful.

levels 1-4 with TWF and faerie fire: 2d6 +3 =10
levels 5-9 with haste: 3d6(shortsword*3) + 2d8 (GFB) + 4 (gfb) +4 (Elemental Affinity) + 6 (DEX) = 33.5
Levels 10-15 with cantrip + quickened cantrip: 2d6(shortsword*2) + 8 (DEX) + 16 (CHA) + 4d8 (GFB) = 49


Saves: With a paladin in the party you shouldn't be failing concentration saves basically ever. Wisdom Saves on the other hand...

Overall: Ehhhh... If you could get ahold of Tenser's Transformation, this would go from a cool but kinda anticlimatic build, to an outright good one. Ah well. 'twas not meant to be.

[Xihirli]

Half-Elf
8/16/16/8/8/17
Elven Accuracy, +2 DEX, +2 DEX, +2 CHA, ?Warcaster?

Quicken SCAG cantrips with Shadow Blade...

Dragon Sorcerer to increase Green-Flame blade damage and for a minor AC boost... or Shadow Sorcerer if someone else in the party can generate Darkness to exploit?

Shadow Sorcerers can only exploit their own darkness.

[Vorpalchicken]

Polymorph into a Giant Ape

[Damon_Tor]

Yes, you read that right.

Start at lvl 5 progress to lvl 12.
Only PHB races, but XGtE and SCAG subraces, sub classes, and spells.
Standard 27 point stat buy
Assume a large (6-7 PCs) party with a mix of lots of things. Could have some influence on a few character choices.
Concentration spells mainly used for CC.

Oooh, oooh, I've done this!

I played to level 14 as a Shadow Blade specialist Dragon sorcerer.

Race is Eladrin.
First feat is Elven Accuracy, then +2 Dex to max it, then max Cha. Draconic element is fire (for Greenflame Blade)

Your core tactic is to use Flexible Spellcasting to make sure you can be using Shadow Blade at level 5 as frequently as possible, cannibalizing your other spell slots to do it. Use sorcery points to cast Greenflame Blade as a minor action for two attacks per round. Keep some level 1 slots available for shield. You'll want to use Control Flames to put out light sources in dungeons to make sure you always get your advantage from the Shadow Blade. Firebolts are your backup cantrip for when you run out of spell slots. And you will run out of spell slots, this is not an efficient build, but it can put out burst damage really well, especially considering that you have access to level 5 spell slots sooner than anyone due to flexible casting. Being able to swing for 2(5d8+Dex+Cha) at level 6 is pretty tight.

[Man_Over_Game]

Mountain Dwarf Storm Sorcerer for a caster, or Shadow Sorcerer for a Booming Blade spammer. The +2 Constitution really helps, and you have proficiency in the Battleaxe and Medium Armor.

Storm Sorcerer: Combine Earth Tremor with your Bonus Action flight to leave craters in your wake. Or move into position for a well-placed Thunderwave before walking right back out.


Shadow Sorcerer: Cast Darkness on yourself to provide Disadvantage to hit you and Advantage to hit you. The Constitution bonus really helps to maintain Concentration.

Additionally, Medium Armor increases your AC by +2-+5 (which I'll just average to +4) A target that had to roll a 6 to hit you how has to roll a 10. That's the difference between 75% to hit to 55%, or effectively increasing your survivability by 36% against creatures that have a +4 hit bonus.

If you throw in the Shadow Sorcerer's Darkness, that 55% becomes 30% chance to hit you. Compared to a standard sorcerer, you went from being hit 75% of the time to being hit 30% of the time, or increasing the number of hits you can mitigate by 250%.