How to build a melee Sorcerer?

[Ortho]

More for the novelty than anything, since I think every class except the Sorcerer supports a melee build in some way. I'm starting at 3rd level, all the Tasha's stuff is in effect, most every published book is available, and I get a free feat at level 1. Here's how I want the build to play out:

As a bonus action via Quickened Spell, cast a buff spell, and my action is Green-Flame Blade. On subsequent turns I attack twice, with Green-Flame Blade as both my action and my bonus action. Or cast a normal spell as a bonus action and Green-Flame Blade as my action. I want to swing a sword at least once per turn.

And here's what I have so far:

Pump Dex, Con, and Cha, for the attacks, HP, and spells, respectively.
Go Hill Dwarf - mostly for the extra hit points, but also because going Mountain Dwarf with Tasha's just feels like cheating. Though I'm still substituting a weapon proficiency for rapiers.
Choose Draconic Bloodline - seems to be the "tankiest" of the subclasses. I'll likely go with Brass Dragon ancestry, and Elemental Affinity will trigger once per spell.
Pick up Metamagic - Quickened Spell to ensure I can cast a cantrip at least once per turn, and Metamagic - Transmuted Spell to overcome any resistances. Just in case.
Snag the important spells: Green-Flame Blade, natch. Mind Sliver + some-spell-with-a-save could be useful. Magic Weapon will be my buff spell (at least initially. I'll likely swap this out later), and Dragon's Breath is a good spell but also a last resort, as I want to focus on melee attacks.
Free Feat: Elemental Adept. It's not the most powerful feat out there, but I'm getting it for free and the ability to ignore fire resistance is great since I'm currently very reliant on fire damage.


And now, the issues I've identified with my build:

I'm burning through 2 sorcery points a turn, which is expensive.
I could do Booming Blade instead of Green-Flame Blade, but the Draconic Bloodline doesn't support thunder damage.
Green-Flame Blade requires a physical weapon, which spells like Shadow Blade and Flame Blade....aren't.
There's a cap on how many sorcery points one can stockpile, so I'll likely have to convert spell slots to sorcery points during combat at some point, thus wasting my bonus action.



Thoughts? Suggestions? Improvements? How would you go about building a melee Sorcerer?

[Mastikator]

How do you feel about multiclassing, because 2 levels in paladin gets you divine smite and 1 level in warlock lets you use charisma for you melee attacks. You'd be one hell of a nuker but drop off after the initial round.

[Ortho]

How do you feel about multiclassing, because 2 levels in paladin gets you divine smite and 1 level in warlock lets you use charisma for you melee attacks. You'd be one hell of a nuker but drop off after the initial round.

I'm aware of Sorcadins and Hexblades, but in this case I'm interested in what a single-classed Sorcerer can do.

[Maan]

If you go single class, you could consider Hobgoblin: you get proficency in Light Armor, so you can spend the feat for Moderately Armored (important mostly for the shield proficency); also, you get up to +5 to Saves once per Short Rest.

[OvisCaedo]

I suppose it's a bit unfortunate that Stone Sorcerer never made it out of UA in any form, since I vaguely remember that having some kind of melee ability.

[Mork]

bugbear sorcerer gives you 5ft range, which will probably combine really well with booming blade, as enemies have to close the distance. Especially if you change the modifiers with the rules from Tasha.

If some UA is on the table you could take the giant soul sorcerer, which gives you shilleagh at level 1, making it so you can use CHA for attack and damage as well. At level 14 you get an short rest recharge ability for extra reach, and extra damage dependend on your CON modifier.

Or, something that is a melee build, but not hitting things with swords kind: mark of warding dwarf, with clockwork sorcerer. Cast lots of armor of agathys and and reduce the damage you take with sorcery points. AC isn't that important because you want to run into combat and get people to hit you. Take the warcaster feat to hit people with a booming blade when they try to walk away from you.

In general war caster is a good level 1 feat to take, as it makes your concentration checks better (in combat you are going to get hit), and you use your blade cantrips as oppertunity attacks.

[RSP]

Playing one now and it’s fun. Here’s my thoughts:

- Divine Soul for Cleric spells, Favored by the Gods, flight and Unearthly Recovery
- Went Variant Half Elf and choose Weapon Training - swap out LS for Rapier if you want/are able
- Half Elf also allows Elven Accuracy (works well with SB Adv in dim/dark)
- Extended Metamagic to get “free” castings of Mage Armor, Aid and Death Ward
- Dex and Con are more important than Cha
- level 3 spells would be Shield, MA, Cure Wounds, Aid and Shadow Blade (should work with BB/GFB but check with DM)
- SB+BB/GFB for standard combat (or reg weapon when conserving slots)
- Aid will help with d6 HPs
- Can Quicken when needed but only use when really necessary d/t cost
- if possible try to use Spell Point Variant as you’ll be using more than 4 Shield castings a work day (just d/t being melee and d6 HP means avoiding hits is crucial) and Spell Point is more efficient than Flexible Casting conversions.

[Unoriginal]

Thoughts? Suggestions? Improvements? How would you go about building a melee Sorcerer?

Githyanki Blue Dragon Sorcerer:

-Decent (if not amazing) AC and HPs.

-Use a Greatsword. Provided you have decent STR, it actually deals more damage than a regular Sorcerer's cantrip for a good while.

-As you said, pick the Quicken and Transmute metamagic

-Pick Lighting Lure and Shocking Grasp as you cantrips. Lighting Lure is a STR save which let you yank people from 15ft away into melee range, and deals damage if the target is into melee range (including if the target was already within melee range without needing to be yanked). Shocking Grasp is an attack spell but if it hits you can leave melee range without worrying about attack of opportunity.

-You can Quicken Lighting Lure or Schocking Grasp, then attack the enemy with your Greatsword.

-Practice your best Sith cackling as you unleash POWER!

https://c.tenor.com/btHvlFizD50AAAAC/unlimited-power.gif

[Bobthewizard]

Combining some things that have been said above, a hobgoblin clockwork soul sorcerer with the moderately armored feat makes a great tank. Good AC, with extra HP and damage when you're hit from armor of Agathys.

The other way I've made a melee sorcerer is with a goblin. Draconic or clockwork soul both work. The key here is booming blade with the goblin's free disengage. So now you're a skirmisher instead of a tank, getting fairly reliable secondary damage from your booming blade. If you get a free feat, I'd start with a dex half feat at 1 for an 18 dex. This might be a time to take weapon master for rapier proficiency. I also like squat nimbleness on this build. Then at 4 you increase your Cha to 18.

[Gtdead]

There are some obvious problems with Sorcerer that it's fairly hard to overcome but I don't think that it's the worst caster in melee. For example, he is the only caster with native access to quickened polymoprh + multiattack which is a fairly strong combo for levels 7-10~. Also his damage output is actually not that bad, even if it's costly.

Sustainability is the #1 problem that we need to solve. There isn't any way for Sorc to get more than 16-17 AC (Dragon/Mage armor with 16 DEX or a race with medium armor) so he is a below average Blur user. There is a possibility to milk Mirror Image by combining it with Sentinel feat (if the enemy attacks the MI, he triggers an AoO). So he can create a hit and run playstyle around MI+Sentinel and Mobile, but MI isn't a powerhouse spell in melee like Blur and the feat investment is too much (without Warcaster the damage output won't worth it and even with it it's debatable).

However, Blur is still a possibility, especially combined with a race that provides medium armor and a build that provides a lot of temp hp, like Clockwork Soul with Armor of Agathys and Aid (hopefully someone else can cast it for you) so the build should be fine for levels 3-4 with minimal feat investment. I can't really tell how sustainable it will be, having to cast at least one Blur and probably 1-2 quickens per encounter.

For 5-6 there is Haste which will make the build a bit more skirmishy. My preference would be something like Spirit Guardians but I don't think that this is what you are looking for, and it's actually not the easiest thing to build around, unless the DM allows Orzhov Representative background. With BB getting a power up at lvl 5 though, the Blur play should stay relevant, at least for the easier fights.

At lvl 7 there is the quickened polymorph combo which is a fairly big powerspike. Also there is some weird interaction with Armor of Agathys and polymorph. The way I read it at least, is that temp hp don't transfer to the polymorphed form, so AoA stays on the character and enemies hitting the polymorphed form will still take the damage while not being able to reduce the AoA temp hp to end the spell.

I don't see an actual progression path past level 10 though. Perhaps investitures can work for a while but I wouldn't hold my breath. And I think that by level 11, blur and haste play won't cut it. You have more spell slots to burn on polymorph but I'm not sure it's worth it. It's still an option though. I wish Sorcerer had access to tenser's transformation, which would be a gamechanger in this case. But he doesn't..

[Zuras]

Honestly, you can go a long way with just a Hill Dwarf Draconic Bloodline sorcerer. Dragon’s Breath is pretty solid damage at a reasonable cost, and you can even do stuff like Quicken a Blade Ward while in melee. I have a player who alternates between that and Shadow Blade for fights (depending on the number of baddies) as a melee sorcerer, and it works reasonably well.

[strangebloke]

I more or less agree with those saying "githyanki or hobgoblin" (gith dragon sorcerer with greatsword is pretty flavorful as well) but to add my 2cp I'll say,

Convince your DM to let you build a hill Dwarf Stone Sorcerer. Its not a particularly broken class/race combo, but its very flavorful, and right off the top you get


shield proficiency
13+CON unarmored defense
2 hp per level (1 from hill dwarf, 1 from stone sorcerer)
access to paladin spells like wrathful smite that give you a potent reason to enter melee.


18 AC from level 1, HP progression that's competitive with a fighter, and some neat spells that give you a good reason to slap someone.

The UA Giant Soul sorcerer is good too, and like dragon and stone, gives you +1hp per level. Hill Giant in particular is a consideration just because it gives you shillelaghs as a sorc spell.

[RogueJK]

If you go single class, you could consider Hobgoblin: you get proficency in Light Armor, so you can spend the feat for Moderately Armored (important mostly for the shield proficency); also, you get up to +5 to Saves once per Short Rest.

That's how I'd do it. That way, you wouldn't be locked into just Draconic, and could have a higher AC of 19 overall with 14+ DEX, Medium Armor, and a Shield. Clockwork Soul could be a better option for a melee Sorcerer, due to their access to non-Sorcerer Abjuration spells like Armor of Agathys. Or Divine Soul for frontline Cleric spells like Spiritual Weapon and Spirit Guardians.

Hobgoblin Clockwork/Divine Soul
STR 8
DEX 15+2
CON 14
INT 8
WIS 10
CHA 15+1

Racial Longbow and Rapier proficiency. Wear Light Armor until you can take Moderately Armored at Level 4 for +1 DEX and Medium Armor/Shield proficiency. +2 CHA at 8th and 12th.


Or, if really want Heavy Armor, and/or your DM is a stickler for spell components and doesn't handwave the Rapier + Shield spellcasting issue without the Warcaster feat, a Githyanki Greatsword build is a good Plan B.

Githyanki Clockwork/Divine Soul
STR 15+2
DEX 10
CON 14
INT 8
WIS 8
CHA 15+1

Racial Greatsword proficiency. Wear Medium Armor until you can take Heavily Armored at Level 4 for +1 STR and Heavy Armor proficiency. +2 CHA at 8th and 12th.

[Man_Over_Game]

Honestly, you can go a long way with just a Hill Dwarf Draconic Bloodline sorcerer. Dragon’s Breath is pretty solid damage at a reasonable cost, and you can even do stuff like Quicken a Blade Ward while in melee. I have a player who alternates between that and Shadow Blade for fights (depending on the number of baddies) as a melee sorcerer, and it works reasonably well.

That's how I'd do it. Fairly affordable, doesn't cost any feats (when you're already going to be MAD). You can also go down the route of Storm Sorcerer, as you'd be able to do things like Earth Tremor and then fly out of the difficult terrain you just made.