Sorcerer DnD 5E guide — how to play in 2023

Power was a natural gift of yours, blossoming from within and taking the form of impressive magical feats. Now you’re ready to harness that power and fulfill your potential, learning what you’re truly capable of. You want to play a Sorcerer, so grab your staff, and let’s get to casting.

In this Sorcerer DnD 5E guide, we’ll train you on your options as a Sorcerer, as well as supportive choices you can make to build your character to achieve what you want. Whilst reading through this guide, you may find article on jargon and list of books (and their common abbreviations) helpful.

This guide will evaluate each option for the Sorcerer on a scale of 1-5 — this is a rating of the abilities’ potency and overall usefulness, primarily focusing on combat where appropriate. That said, I will still evaluate everything, hopefully to aid you weigh any choices you might be considering at a glance, helping you know what to expect and make changes accordingly, if desired. The rating scheme is:

1 – Usually a bad choice, to be avoided
2 – Below average, this can apply to powerful but very niche abilities
3 – Average to Good, you won’t go wrong with it
4 – Very good
5 – Amazing, a must-have if there is such a thing

Be sure to check our other DnD 5E class guides: Artificer guide, Barbarian guide, Fighter guide, Monk guide, Paladin guide, Ranger guide, Rogue guide, and Warlock guide.

Sorcerer Class Abilities Guide

Hit Dice 2 – This is the smallest Hit Die available. The only reason that this doesn’t get a 1 is that the Sorcerer class, and one subclass, have tools to help mitigate the lack of hit points and the Sorcerer is likely to be at range and at less risk of melee damage.

Sorcerer Proficiencies Guide

Armor 1 – You don’t know how to wear anything heavier than a winter coat.

Weapons 2 – A very restricted list, this is saved from a 1 by giving you access to light crossbows and daggers for practical use, and quarterstaffs in case you have to resort to hitting something with a focus.

Tools 1 – You don’t have access to any tools, which is a shame given your power is innate.

Saving Throws 5 – Charisma saves are not very common, however, Constitution saves are not only common against nasty effects and damage, but they will also help you keep concentration on your spells.

Skills 2 – The highlight of this list is Arcana, which barely saves it from a 1. This is a terrible skill list to choose from if you don’t want to be a face character. 

Spellcasting 4 – Your bread and butter, as a fullcaster you gain access to all spell levels at the fastest progression available. Using Charisma for your spellcasting modifier means that you will be inherently decent, to say the least, at social skills even if you don’t choose proficiency in them. The Sorcerer’s spell list is essentially a more restricted version of the Wizard spell list, this restricted list also doesn’t get updated as frequently as the lists of other fullcasters. There is only one Sorcerer exclusive spell, Chaos Bolt, in stark contrast to other spellcasters. 

The Sorcerer also has a very small amount of spells known, which can be problematic when several spells are often regarded as necessary such as Mage Armor and Shield. This restriction is eased by certain subclasses adding spells, or mitigating their need for certain spells, to begin with. This feature only gets a 4 due to the limited spell list and the number of spells known, both of which are somewhat mitigated by the Metamagic feature and larger than average number of cantrips.

Font of Magic 4 – One of two things that set Sorcerers apart from other casters, this feature allows you to tailor your casting to your play style. If you want to use more Metamagic or subclass features, you can trade your spell slots for more sorcery points (SP). If you value casting as many spells as possible, you can convert your SP to more spell slots, and rearrange your existing spell slots to levels that suit you best. This only gets a 4 as the formula for SP, SP = Sorcerer level, is a bit low for a long rest resource, ideally, the Sorcerer would gain some SP back on a short rest.

Metamagic 5 – In general, this is a great feature that can drastically increase the power of a spell. The actual power of this feature, however, greatly relies on the options that you choose, which we will review in depth later in the guide.

Sorcerous Restoration 3 – This is an okay feature, equivalent to recovering a little more than a 2nd level spell slot per short rest. This feature only gets a 3 because 4 SP is a very small amount, especially with more and more subclass features using SP. Ideally, this ability would either allow you to recover all of your SP with an action once per long rest, or recover 4 SP every time you roll initiative.

Sorcerer Metamagic Options Guide

The following list of Metamagic options is arranged alphabetically but divided by the books they are found in, to make it easy to see what you can choose from if certain sources are not allowed at your table. The sorcery point (SP) cost for each option is denoted in [brackets].

PHB

Careful Spell [1 SP] 4 – This is a solid option, allowing you to use AoE effects with a much greater degree of freedom, without endangering your party too much. This is only a 4 as it doesn’t prevent damage spells from still doing half damage to your allies.

Distant Spell [1 SP] 2 – A very niche option, range is rarely an issue that can’t be solved with positioning. The biggest strength of Distant Spell is changing touch spell to a range of 30 feet, the value of this is extremely dependent on your spell list.

Empowered Spell [1 SP] 4 – Good insurance against rolling abysmally on your Fireball etc., part of the benefit of this option is that you can use it in conjunction with another Metamagic, such as Quickened Spell. This only gets a 4 because it forces you to use the new rolls, instead of allowing you to choose between them.

Extended Spell [1 SP] 5 – Doubling the duration of a spell is similar in power to casting it twice. Whilst this does depend on your spell list, most Sorcerers can benefit from a single casting of Mage Armor lasting them all day, or the previous day’s casting lasting into part of the next days. This is particularly valuable for the Divine Soul subclass, which can increase the duration of buffs such as Aid and Death Ward.

Heightened Spell [3 SP] 4 – Used on spells such as Hypnotic Pattern, this option is very powerful and can really help you land devastating spells that can change the direction of an encounter. This only gets a 4 as it is relatively expensive compared to other options and the total size of your SP pool. As you gain levels this will also often be downgraded from disadvantage against your saves to straight rolls, as Magic Resistance becomes a more common trait on monsters as CR increases.

Quickened Spell [2 SP] 5 – An excellent option that allows you to cast a cantrip alongside a leveled spell, or to still cast a spell whilst taking actions such as Disengage, Dodge, or Dash as necessary.

Subtle Spell [1 SP] 3 – A niche option that’s primary benefit is making your spells invulnerable to Counterspell, with side benefits of letting you cast with your hands full or being unable to speak. This gets a 3 despite being niche, as the effect is powerful within those niches and it is very cheap.

Twinned Spell [1 SP per spell level] 5 – Another excellent option that gives you the benefits of casting a spell twice, but with none of the drawbacks. You can use this option to blast the battlefield or more potently, you can use it to buff two allies at once with the same concentration requirement. A common example of this would be twinning Haste to buff two party martial characters without needing a second spellcaster to concentrate on the second target.

TCoE

Seeking Spell [2 SP] 5 – Getting a second chance to hit when it really counts can be invaluable, especially as you get to know the result of the roll first and can use this in addition to another Metamagic option.

Transmuted Spell [1 SP] 4 – Being able to change damage types helps you make the most of the very limited number of spells known a Sorcerer has and helps you make a particular elemental Sorcerer of your choice, regardless of spell support. This only gets a 4, as it locks you out of using any other options for a relatively minor effect.

Sorcerer Stats Guide

It’s important to go through how pertinent each stat is for a Sorcerer before we get into the nitty-gritty of the subclasses. This part of the guide will rate the stats in the game based on how good they are for a Sorcerer; you may decide to use a build that relies on a stat rated lowly here, but that doesn’t mean your concept can’t work! 

Strength 1 – You have no use for this stat unless you want to bop monsters with your staff.

Dexterity 3 – A useful stat for all classes, you’ll need this for your AC and initiative primarily, with various skills also benefitting. 

Constitution 4 – Con is important to compensate for the low hit points that result from having a d6 Hit Die, as well as boosting your Con saving throw modifier to maintain concentration on your spells.

Intelligence 1 – The only reason to invest in this stat is for the roleplay of your character, if you want to be good at Investigation, or if you want to multiclass into Artificer or Wizard.

Wisdom 4 – A very valuable stat, Wisdom saves can be very debilitating and become increasingly more common as levels increase. Perception is also valuable at all levels and having a 13 or higher opens the possibility of multiclassing into Cleric, Druid, or Ranger if you really wanted to.

Charisma 5 – As a Charisma-based caster this is easily your most important stat and should take priority when deciding your stats. This has the side effects of making you good at social skills and hard to banish, yay!

Sorcerous Origins (Subclasses)

What subclass you choose can greatly change how you play your Sorcerer, this can manifest in a number of ways such as giving you access to different spells, or granting benefits to certain types of spells. These things can then ripple down into the Metamagic options that you select, so you should consider your subclass in terms of your entire character, rather than just the specific features it grants.

Draconic Bloodline

This subclass is an all-rounder, providing benefits in various different aspects of your character. This is a good choice for players looking to play a blasting character, an elemental-themed mage, or simply want to mitigate some negatives associated with being a Sorcerer.

Draconic Resilience 4 – This compensates for your d6 Hit Die and means that you don’t have to spend a spell known and spell slots on Mage Armor, a significant benefit for a Sorcerer! This only gets a 4 as there are no active abilities here and the benefit of not needing Mage Armor is more significant in earlier levels.

Elemental Affinity 5 – A cheap way to gain resistance for an hour and a solid damage boost to your chosen element, this makes your cantrips formidable and your leveled damage spells often act as if they were upcast by one level.

Dragon Wings 5 – At-will flight that you can turn on and off with a bonus action is a fantastic ability. This allows you to trade out the Fly spell, use it on others, or just save your spell slot and concentration for other things.

Draconic Presence 3 – A lot of creatures in tier 4 play are going to have immunity to the charmed and frightened condition, limiting the usefulness of this ability. This would be rated better if it wasn’t so expensive and consumed your concentration.

Wild Magic

A wildcard, so to speak, this subclass allows you to embrace the chaotic fun that wild magic brings, whilst leveraging this magic to help you control the results on the battlefield. This subclass is somewhat hindered by being DM-dependent more than any others, it’s advised that you talk with your DM beforehand, so that you know they support your concept and will use your Wild Magic Surge to recharge Tides of Chaos.

Tides of Chaos 3 – This is potentially a very potent ability, however, being reliant on your DM having you roll on the Wild Magic Surge table makes it extremely unreliable. This ability would be rated much higher if it also recharged on a short rest.

Bend Luck 3 – This is like selectively applying the Bless or Bane spell as a reaction, this can be what makes the difference in an encounter, pushing an ally over a saving throw DC, or a monster below one. This only gets a 3 because 2 SP is a little steep for the effect, and consuming your reaction prevents you from using defensive options, such as Shield and Absorb Elements.

Controlled Chaos 3 – This greatly helps insulate you from bad results on the Wild Magic Surge table, however, you can still have to choose between two bad options. This doesn’t warrant more than a 3, a feature should do more than help you deal with a hindrance of your other subclass features.

Spell Bombardment 2 – Triggered entirely randomly, with the only effect being a small bump in damage. This is a terrible capstone feature, but the small bump in damage is enough to prevent it from being a 1.

Storm

A subclass built around using lightning and thunder damage, combining this with mobility around the battlefield to compensate for putting yourself in compromising positions to leverage your abilities. If you choose this subclass, it’s recommended to take fitting spells, such as Chromatic Orb, Thunderwave, Shatter, and Lightning Bolt.

Wind Speaker 3 – Primordial is a very niche language but is at least thematic and more useful than just getting Auran.

Tempestuous Magic 3 – The real purpose of this feature is to get you out of melee range, and it does that reasonably well. The downside here is that you need to be using touch spells to really get the most out of this feature. This improves when you get Heart of the Storm.

Heart of the Storm 5 – Two resistances are very nice, adding auto-hitting AoE damage that doesn’t risk friendly fire is even better. At first, the thought of being within 10 feet of monsters to use this ability may seem scary, but this feature pairs well with Tempestuous Magic, giving you a 10 ft. jump to get out of a monster’s reach. The more monsters you can hit, the higher the value of this ability, to be safe you should seek out boosts to your movement speed to ensure that you can get away.

Storm Guide 3 – This is a very thematic ribbon ability, but to get the most out of it you would need to be regularly at sea, protecting the ship and pushing wind into the sails.

Storm’s Fury 4 – This is a very good retributive reaction, dealing a reasonable amount of damage and giving a chance to push the monster a significant distance away.

Wind Soul 5 – Permanent damage immunity is not easy to come by, getting two is fantastic, even if it does retroactively reduce the value of Heart of the Storm. Not only do you get an always-on fly speed, but it’s at a very nice 60 ft. and you can allow up to 8 other creatures to fly for a tiny cost! This is an excellent capstone that allows your high-level party to take it to the BBEG no matter what altitude they’re at.

Divine Soul

A unique subclass for the Sorcerer, the Divine Soul allows you to choose any spell you please from the Cleric spell list, in addition to effectively giving you an additional spell known from that spell list. This gives you access to fantastic combat spells such as Guiding Bolt, Spiritual Weapon, and Spirit Guardians, in addition to allowing you to become a very potent healer by combining healing spells with your Metamagic options.

Divine Magic 5 – Gaining access to the Cleric spell list opens up a whole new world of possibilities with Metamagic, even allowing you to act as a solid healer. Adding another spell to your limited spells known is what clinches this as a 5.

Favored by the Gods 5 – An excellent addition to your toolbox, helping you land an attack or pass a save when you need to most. Part of what makes this feature so valuable is adding a short rest resource to an otherwise long rest dependent class.

Empowered Healing 2 – An incredibly niche ability due to the range restriction, for a very small benefit. This would be better if there were no range restriction and it instead allowed you to take the maximum value of the dice, rather than just rerolling them.

Otherworldly Wings 5 – This is the same ability that Draconic Bloodline sorcerers get, just with a different appearance for the wings, and is great for the same reasons. At-will, bonus action flight is a complete change to how you approach movement, possibly also saving you spells known and spell slots.

Unearthly Recovery 4 – The fragility of having a d6 Hit Die is largely mitigated by this feature, allowing you to take a large amount of damage in a single fight without wavering. This only gets a 4 as it doesn’t directly aid your spells, and requires that you survive to your turn in order to use it, rather than simply being an increase in maximum HP.

Shadow

With a decidedly creepy feel, this subclass is well suited for races that lack darkvision and is the only subclass to provide a non-spell-based summon, with the Hound of Ill Omen. This subclass makes you a little tougher to kill whilst giving an overall theme of control of the battlefield in one way or another.

Eyes of the Dark 5 – The darkvision granted by this feature is better than that provided by most races, with the addition of Darkness easing the burden on your spells known. This is a 5 because it allows you to see through your own Darkness when casting it with SP, which is cheaper than creating a 2nd level spell slot from SP.

Strength of the Grave 3 – At early levels this can save your life, however, due to the formula used for setting the DC this feature ages poorly. It wouldn’t be difficult for some monsters to set a DC that is impossible for you to meet, whilst it offers no protection against critical hits, which is a significant reason why you might suddenly drop to 0 HP. This is saved from a 2 by coming alongside Eyes of the Dark but would be better served without the saving throw, similar to the half-orc feature Relentless Endurance.

Hound of Ill Omen 4 – A great summoning feature that has some scaling built-in to keep it relevant. In some instances this allows you to focus on other enemies whilst the hound deals with its quarry, in others it serves as a distraction and source of disadvantage against your spells. The only thing keeping this from a 5 is that it doesn’t make the hound’s attacks magical, meaning that its damage will age poorly.

Shadow Walk 4 – A potentially very valuable mobility boost, the requirement to both be in and teleport to, dim light or darkness is mitigated by your ability to cast Darkness. This doesn’t warrant a 5 as it is still possible for intelligent monsters to disrupt your ability to teleport.

Umbral Form 5 – Whilst this ability is expensive at 6 SP, a bonus action to give yourself resistance to most forms of damage is very powerful. This not only increases your survivability but, also makes it much easier to retain concentration on your spells. The ability to move through solid objects is a lesser benefit, best for making getting into and out of cover easier.

Aberrant Mind

A Sorcerer with a psionic or otherworldly feel, this is the only Sorcerer subclass to offer a form of telepathy and has a strong selection of control and utility options, thanks to various features and the Psionic Spells they benefit from. 

Psionic Spells 5 – This is a lot of spells to add to your repertoire, what seals this as a 5 is that you can swap out these spells for other spells that wouldn’t normally be on your own spell list.

Telepathic Speech 5 – Whilst needing a bonus action to use is worse than some other telepathy features, having the other person be able to reply to you is definitely an improvement. This, combined with also getting Psionic Spells at this level, makes this feature a 5. Note that, whilst the distance on this feature is impressive, the duration will never be long enough for that distance to be practically useful.

Psionic Sorcery 5 – This is a great feature, akin to getting an enhanced version of Subtle Spell when using it. Whilst the lack of components is what grabs your attention first, this ability is also incredibly efficient, costing less than creating spell slots out of your sorcery points to cast with.

Psychic Defenses 5 – Charmed and Frightened are common enough monster-imposed conditions that this is a valuable feature, whilst psychic is a less common damage type, it’s still a worthwhile resistance to have.

Revelation in Flesh 3 – None of the benefits you can gain from this feature are bad but, this feature doesn’t feel like a 14th-level feature. This would be better served as being a transformation for all of the benefits, whilst costing 2 or 3 SP.

Warping Implosion 3 – The damage of this feature is lackluster and it targets a typically strong monster save. The only real benefits to this ability are being able to teleport whilst casting a bonus action spell, and potentially setting up a Quickened AoE spell as a bonus action. The cost of using this ability again is very steep and the benefits are similar to using Thunder Step. This would be better if it targeted a different saving throw and dealt more damage.

Clockwork Soul

This subclass is a great option for a support Sorcerer, allowing you to buff and protect allies whilst robbing monsters of advantage, should they benefit from it. It’s recommended that you keep some spells that use attack rolls to hand to take advantage of Trance of Order fully. Extended and Twinned are great Metamagic options for this subclass, allowing you to make buffs like Aid and Protection from Evil and Good even more potent.

Clockwork Magic 5 – A big boost to your spells known and a good selection of spells for your Sorcerer to have access to. Being able to swap these spells out is just gravy!

Restore Balance 5 – This feature acts as insurance for yourself and the party, which can really neuter the threat of some monsters and environments.

Bastion of Law 4 – The ward that this feature creates is similar to the ward of the Abjuration Wizard, as it can stack alongside temporary hit points. This allows you to build a formidable defense by stacking it with spells such as False Life. The only thing holding this back from being a 5 is the swingy nature of using dice to determine the amount of damage reduction. It’s recommended to swap out one of your 1st level clockwork spells for Armor of Agathys to make the most of this ability.

Trance of Order 5 – An excellent buff that makes everything you do more reliable, to capitalize on this the most of this you should have some attack roll-based spells on hand. This also boosts the reliability of using Dispel Magic and Counterspell.

Clockwork Cavalcade 4 – This is a pretty good capstone that has the potential to completely avoid TPKs in some situations. The repairing of items is very niche, and probably won’t see use, but a fat pile of hit points will always be welcome in high-level combat. The price for reusing this ability is a little steep given the amount of SP you get for free and how situational most of it is. Ideally, it would end effects that aren’t explicitly spells to increase its relevance.

Lunar Sorcery

Released for the Dragonlance setting, this subclass gives you a large number of spells known and stretches your resources further with free castings and more efficient Metamagic use. This is a very flexible Sorcerous Origin thanks to the changing of your lunar phase and is a great choice for builds that focus on casting, rather than additional abilities.

Lunar Embodiment 5 – This is a large number of spells for a Sorcerer to gain access to, with Shield, in particular, freeing up a spell known you would have likely spent on it. The spells you wouldn’t normally have access to, such as Death Ward, are good additions and work well with Metamagic options like Twinned Spell. The free casting is a nice boost to your resources and will be best spent on Shield a lot of the time. 

Moon Fire 4 – Sacred Flame isn’t the best cantrip in the game, but being able to target two creatures with it at once certainly sweetens the deal. This only gets a 4 as the creatures need to be next to each other, this feature would be improved if they could be 10 ft. apart.

Lunar Boons 4 – Combined with Waxing and Waning this allows you to be more liberal in your use of Metamagic on your favorite spells. This only gets a 4 as none of the options will allow you to reduce the sorcery point cost for evocation spells.

Waxing and Waning 3 – This is an essential ability for getting the most out of Lunar Boons and the ability to cast all of your 1st-level spells for the combined cost of 2 SP is nice. However, the spells you get won’t age particularly well and it would be far improved by allowing you to change your phase for free on a rest, in addition to the sorcery point cost.

Lunar Empowerment 5 – This rating is primarily carried by the sheer power of the New Moon option, combining advantage on a valuable skill check, Stealth, and the powerful defense of disadvantage on attacks against you is great, especially as being in darkness is an easy requirement to fulfill. The other options are now quite as powerful, but in their situations, they are valuable enough to make this a 5 altogether.

Lunar Phenomenon 4 – Great action economy and two very good options make this a 4, there are just so many benefits crammed into a single bonus action. However, the Full Moon option is lackluster compared to the others. At this level, it should be a much larger heal or have a generous flat number as part of the formula, but as is it is hard to justify spending 5 sorcery points to do it again.

Sorcerer Recommended Spells Guide

The list of spells available to you can seem intimidating to even seasoned players, so this section will go through some spells that are great for most, if not all, Sorcerers:

Chill Touch [Cantrip] – Necrotic is a good damage type against most creatures, with the rider shutting down healing being extremely valuable against some monsters, largely neutering their threat in the process. This is eligible for Twinned Spell, which makes it great at dealing with groups of regenerating enemies, although that is a little niche.

Ray of Frost [Cantrip] – A fairly reliable damage type, cold is typically resisted much more than completely nullified by immunity, the rider effect of this cantrip is what you’re really after. An at-will control effect whilst dealing damage is a great package, reducing your enemy’s speed by 10 ft. can make the difference between them getting in range of your party or not and makes a skirmisher’s role easier.

Absorb Elements [1st level Spell] – With so few hit points, a solid and well-rounded defense is essential and this spell provides you with coverage against all elemental types as you need it. The damage boost to your next melee attack will likely be wasted on most Sorcerer builds, however, it’s not why you want this spell anyway.

Mage Armor [1st level Spell] – Without any armor proficiencies, this is practically mandatory to save you from a tragically low AC. As a bonus, you can cast, or twin, this spell on some allies or summoned creatures to up their AC too. This is not recommended for Draconic Origin Sorcerers or any builds that gain medium armor from a race or multiclass.

Magic Missile [1st level Spell] – Force damage is the least resisted/immune to damage type in the game, making this a very reliable spell when combined with the auto-hit nature of Magic Missile. 

Shield [1st level Spell] – A key, and iconic, part of your defense, Shield is a spell that everyone would like access to. This makes your mediocre AC towering at the times when you need it most.

Invisibility [2nd level Spell] – An excellent utility spell, this has significantly more value for you as you have the option of using Metamagic options such as Twinned Spell and Extended Spell. This allows you to get a large amount of value out of this spell compared to others.

Misty Step [2nd level Spell] – As you level up, this will become increasingly cheap to use but will always be valuable throughout your career. Being able to move around the battlefield without provoking attacks of opportunity is extremely valuable for a d6 Hit Die class, with some usability out of combat to overcome environmental challenges.

Fireball [3rd level Spell] – Quite simply, it’s Fireball, a big area filled with fire! This spell is a bit overtuned for its level thanks to its heritage, with the Sorcerer able to increase this even further with Heightened Spell, Quickened Spell, or being the right kind of Draconic Sorcerer.

Haste [3rd level Spell] – A powerful buff for your martial allies, your proficiency in Con saves makes it unlikely that you’ll lose concentration and leave a friend in the lurch. In addition, you can use Twinned Spell to buff two allies at once, just be prepared for twice the frustration if you lose concentration!

Sorcerer Race Choices Guide

In this section, I’ll review all of the racial options based on how well they complement the Sorcerer, commenting on where certain features may benefit certain subclasses. Races are good places to pick up abilities for certain character concepts, so if you’re thinking about playing a certain Sorcerer but that race isn’t rated well here, it doesn’t mean your particular combination wouldn’t work or be fun to play. Like I said, it’s actually pretty difficult to make a truly bad character in 5e. 

A race which provides additional casting will be rated well generally, unless the spells provided are particularly niche or bad. This is because of the relative benefit the Sorcerer gains compared to other casters, racial casting can greatly expand on their normally very restricted number of spells known.

Subraces and variants will be listed under the central race rating, indented to the right and noted by italics.

If your DM allows the TCoE optional rules for reassigning racial stat bumps, then every race becomes a minimum rating of 3 and you should decide entirely based on the other benefits they give. The only exceptions to this, are races that give more points to stats than is typical, like the Half-Elf or Mountain Dwarf.

The player race options offered by Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse will be separated in their own section instead of being listed alphabetically. This is to make them more distinct on the list as they stand out as primarily revisions of existing races. If a race option from this book doesn’t have any changes from an entry already covered in this section, it will be omitted.

Aarakocra 3 – The stats aren’t ideal but are still useful, the real boon here is getting such a high fly speed straight from level one. This can help keep you out of harm’s way in combat, overcome environmental challenges, and take advantage of different angles to negate enemy cover. 

Aasimar 3 – +2 Charisma is a great start, with two resistances, healing, and a damage boost this is a great option for any Sorcerer. The damage from the transformation can greatly aid any blasting-centric builds.

• Protector 4 – Wisdom is a good tertiary stat to have, although a Dex of Con bump would have been more desirable. Access to flight is very valuable but doesn’t last long enough to really replace the Fly spell.
• Scourge 3 – Con is great, no-save AoE damage is fantastic but this is relegated to a 3 due to hurting yourself. With a d6 Hit Die and a need to maintain your concentration, damaging yourself is certainly a risk.
• Fallen 1 – A useless stat bump and a frightened-imposing ability that can affect your allies and only lasts one turn, you’re better off with either of the other options.

Astral Elf 5 – You don’t really need the additional cantrip, but it doesn’t hurt, and all of the goodies of being an elf are always welcome. Astral Trance helps add some nonmagical utility to your Sorcerer, whilst Starlight Step can save you spell slots and a precious spell known on Misty Step. Whilst this is a 5, if you are primarily interested in Starlight Step then you may want to consider the MotM versions of the Eladrin and Shadar Kai, which gives the same teleport but with additional rider effects.

Autognome 5 – Best for any subclass that isn’t Draconic, Armored Casing will save you a spell known and spell slots on Mage Armor. Healing Machine does restrict the sources of healing you can benefit from, most notably a Paladin’s Lay on Hands, Ranger’s Healing Spirit, and the Heal spell. However, it does allow you to use the Mending cantrip to spend a Hit Die, which could save you when you’re in need of hit points but don’t have the time for a short rest. The biggest benefits here are the suite of defensive buffs from Mechanical Nature and Built for Success, which functions in a similar way to the Divine Soul’s Favored by the Gods, but also stacks with it. 

Bugbear 2 – Dex and Stealth proficiency are useful to you, saving this from a 1, and there is some potential for a Booming Blade build. However, that is very niche and the average Sorcerer is going to get very little from this race.

Centaur 2 – Higher movement speed is always a benefit and Wisdom is a decent stat to bump, however, most of this race is niche and the penalty of Equine Build can be incredibly inconvenient in some campaigns.

Changeling 4 – Excellent stats, skill proficiencies that leverage your high Charisma, and the Shapechanger feature to use in some social situations. This only gets a 4 as it doesn’t actually make you a better Sorcerer but, is a great choice for those looking to make a face character.

Dhampir 4 – Excellent stats, excellent mobility, and a melee attack option that you can actually use with some reliability thanks to it using your Con modifier. There isn’t quite enough here for a 5, especially since the Vampiric Bite doesn’t qualify to be used with Green-Flame Blade or Booming Blade.

Dragonborn 3 – Str is useless to you, but +1 Charisma, a damage resistance, and the Breath Weapon are all useful for a Sorcerer. The lackluster damage and using Con for the breath DC holds this back at a 3.

• Draconblood 3 – A decent choice for a face Sorcerer, although the Int bump is still useless to you.
• Ravenite 2 – The +1 Con and Breath Weapon are the only things here for you.

Dragonborn (FToD Version) 5 – This version has most of its features in a subrace, leaving only the excellent select your own stats to be rated here.

• Chromatic 3 – You can’t make use of the Breath Weapon replacing only a single attack, Chromatic Warding is a bit niche and clunky to use.
• Metallic 4 – Metallic Breath Weapon adds some excellent control options to an already solid race choice.
• Gem 5 – The energy types available to the gem dragonborn are unique compared to others of their kind, offering a more potent breath weapon, or more powerful resistance. The utility of telepathy and flight are also very welcome on a Sorcerer, making for a very well-rounded package of abilities.

Dwarf 4 – Con is always welcome and poison is a very common damage type, so an excellent resistance to have. The option to wear heavy armor without needing to meet the minimum Str requirement is a nice option to have for some multiclass builds.

• Hill 4 – Wisdom isn’t bad, the +1 HP per level is extremely welcome and almost entirely mitigates having such a small Hit Die.
• Mountain 2 – You have no use for Str. but the armor proficiencies are useable at least.
• Duergar 3 – The Str boost and Sunlight Sensitivity are big turn-offs, but the added defense of Duergar Resilience and casting of Duergar Magic is very tempting. Without a Cha bump and a negative feature, this only warrants a 3.
• Mark of Warding 3 – The Int bonus is useless to you, but the spells from Wards and Seals are all solid and won’t actually require your spell save DC, with Mage Armor even saving you a spell known. Warder’s Intuition is a good addition to any aspiring Rogue-like Sorcerers.

Elf 3 –  +2 Dex, Perception proficiency, and Fey Ancestry are a good start, but there’s nothing in the core race that supports being a Sorcerer specifically.

• High Elf 2 – The Int bonus is useless to you, and you already have the most cantrips of any class. This gets a 2 as some builds might benefit from the weapon proficiencies and additional cantrip, but most won’t in a meaningful way.
• Wood Elf 3 – Wisdom is a good tertiary stat to boost, and everyone can benefit from an increased movement speed. This doesn’t warrant anything higher than a 3 without something to enhance your spellcasting or a more relevant stat bump.
• Drow 4 – A Charisma bump and Charisma-based spellcasting make for a great choice for a Sorcerer. This only gets a 4 due to Sunlight Sensitivity; however, you can mitigate the negative effect of this by using buff or save-based spells.
• Eladrin 5 – Good stat bumps and a bonus action teleport ability that expands your toolbox. This can potentially save you from learning Misty Step, which relieves some pressure from your spells known.
• Sea 2 – Con is a valuable stat for hit points, and concentration saves, but the rest of this race option is so niche that it can’t punch above a 2.
• Shadar-kai 4 – The combination of Con and necrotic resistance are valuable for a more durable Sorcerer, and Blessing of the Raven Queen is an excellent addition to your mobility and survivability. The only thing holding this back from a 5 is the lack of a Cha boost and the single use per long rest of the teleport.
• Mark of Shadow 5 – Great stats, additional spellcasting, and a boost to Stealth and Performance checks make this a fantastic race for a stealthy or Bard-like Sorcerer build.
• Pallid 3 – Decent stats and additional spellcasting make this a worthwhile option; however, sleep will age poorly, and without a Cha bump to support it this doesn’t warrant a 4.

Fairy 5 – Flexible stats, at-will flight from 1st level, and a bevy of Charisma-based spellcasting that you can also spend your own spell slots on is an excellent package for any Sorcerer. The restriction on the Flight ability won’t affect the majority of Sorcerer builds unless you multiclass or play certain races to access medium or heavy armor.

Firbolg 2 – Bad stats make this a niche offering, but Firbold Magic and Hidden Step are good enough features that there’s still some value here.

Genasi 4 – Nothing here except +2 Con, good enough for a 4 given your small Hit Die and need to maintain concentration on spells.

• Air 3 – The Dex boost you need for your AC and the option of casting Levitate once per day saves this from being a 2, but just barely. Unending Breath is very niche, and overall, there just isn’t much here for you.
• Earth 3 – Strength is useless to you unless you want to hit monsters with your staff and Earth Walk is very situational. Pass without Trace is such a good spell that it saves this from being relegated to a 2, especially as you normally wouldn’t be able to choose it from your spell list.
• Fire 2 – A useless Int bump and the quickly redundant Burning Hands really hold this option back. Darkvision, fire resistance, and the utility offered by Produce Flame save this from a 1, making it a niche choice for some fire builds.
• Water 2 – Shape Water is a fun and useful utility cantrip, but everything else about this subrace is very niche and best suited to water-heavy campaigns.

Giff 3 – The flexible stats and Hippo Build compensating for your low Strength is what holds this up as a 3, with a Sorcerer not having the stats or incentive to use firearms or any other kind of weapon to make use of most of this hippo folk’s abilities.

Gith 1 – Nothing in the overall race besides an Intelligence increase, which is absolutely awful for a Sorcerer.

• Githyanki 3 – The stats are as bad as they could possibly be, but the proficiency with medium armor greatly mitigates your reliance on Dexterity, and Githyanki Psionics is so great it hauls this race up to a 3. This would be a good base for a martial Sorcerer that uses Strength as their primary stat and cantrips like Green-Flame Blade for attacking.
• Githzerai 3 – Wisdom is a decent stat, but far from ideal, luckily Mental Discipline is a potent defense against many monsters and some spells. Githzerai Psionics is a nice addition to your toolbox, but Detect Thoughts using your Wisdom modifier significantly hinders its effectiveness.

Gnome 2 – Gnome Cunning is a pretty good mental defense, although it doesn’t protect you from nonmagical abilities, such as a dragon’s Frightful Presence. This saves the Gnome from a 1, but with the penalties of being small, a 25 ft. movement speed, and a +2 Int, they can’t punch above a 2 in the core race.

• Forest 2 – +1 Dex is at least useful to you, Minor Illusion is nice but limited by the Int-based DC, and Speak with Small Beasts is a niche ribbon.
• Rock 2 – The only thing for you here, and saving this from a 1, is the Con bump.
• Deep 2 – Superior Darkvision can be useful in some situations, and the Dex is useful for your AC, but there just isn’t enough here for a 3.
• Mark of Scribing 3 – A +1 Cha and a bunch of additional spellcasting make this Gnome a solid choice for a utility-orientated Sorcerer.

Goblin 4 – Good stats, a damage boost for when you need it, and the ability to get away from monsters without penalty using Nimble Escape, and you have a very dynamic base for your Sorcerer. 

Goliath 2 – The Strength boost is niche at best, but where this race comes in handy is when maintaining concentration and keeping you alive with +1 Con and the ability to reduce incoming damage once per short rest.

Hadozee 4 – With a d6 Hit Die and the need to maintain concentration on your spells, the damage reduction here is valuable, even if it isn’t that generous in its formula. Dextrous Feet is… mostly useless, but with access to spells like Dimension Door, you can cover some serious distance with the Glide feature, whilst removing your personal need for the Feather Fall spell.

Half-Elf 5 – Excellent stats that allow you to bump everything that matters and helps with some of the more MAD multiclass builds. Fey Ancestry and Skill Versatility round out your build nicely, giving you a solid 5 race for any Sorcerer, although the lack of active abilities may not be interesting to some.

• Aquatic Descent 1 – This is just a downgrade from the core race, the niche benefit of a swimming speed hamstrung by the lack of breathing underwater.
• Drow Descent 5 – A cantrip and two solid spells that age well are a good trade for two skills of your choice. This is an easy 5 just like the core race, providing you with the option of casting more spells or sacrificing some spells for sorcery points without cutting into your spellcasting.
• Moon/Sun Descent 2 – You won’t want the weapon proficiencies, and whilst there is value in getting a cantrip from the Wizard’s list, it will use your Int score and is a lot less casting compared to other variants.
• Wood Descent 3 – The only option worth considering here is Fleet of Foot, as everyone can benefit from a higher movement speed. The sheer value of Skill Versatility means that this trade is useful but only manages a 3.
• Mark of Detection 3 – There’s a lot of utility casting on offer here, with Deductive Intuition covering what would normally be weak skills for you. This is held back by the spells being a bit too situational and the +2 Wisdom.
• Mark of the Storm 4 – Good stats, a damage resistance, and some spellcasting. This is a good option, but definitely a downgrade from the core race with how niche the spells and lightning resistance are.

Half-Orc 2 – +2 Strength and Savage Attacks are not going to be useful for most Sorcerers, but the +1 Con and Relentless Endurance can help save your character sheet when your d6 Hit Die fails you. This could be a good base for a melee Sorcerer if you’re interested in that niche.

• Mark of Finding 2 – Wisdom is certainly better than Strength, with Hunter’s Intuition bolstering a very common and important check (Perception). However, Hunter’s Mark requires you attack with a weapon, and the lack of Cha bump still hurts.

Halfling 4 – Brave, Halfling Nimbleness, Lucky, and +2 Dex are all great benefits for any character, Sorcerer included. The only things holding the core race back from a 5 are the lack of a Charisma increase and the downsides of being Small.

• Lightfoot 3 – The +1 Charisma is nice to have and what makes this a 3, as the Naturally Stealthy feature is unlikely to be used often, if it all.
• Stout 3 – +1 Con and poison resistance are very nice, with poison being one of the more common damage types you’ll come across outside of Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing.
• Ghostwise 2 – Telepathy is neat and can prove useful in certain situations, with +1 being an okay stat bump. This only gets a 2 as it doesn’t quite deliver enough value for a 3, especially as one Sorcerer subclass already offers a telepathy feature.
• Mark of Healing 3 – A good option to add a bit of healing onto your Sorcerer, especially as you can apply your Metamagic to the Healing Touch spells. A free casting of Cure Wounds is even better if you use Twinned Spell, for example. This is held back by the lack of Cha bump and Cure Wounds using your Wisdom modifier.
• Mark of Hospitality 5 – A Charisma increase, some utility spells, and a d4 on your Persuasion checks make this a good option overall and particularly good for any Sorcerers that want to lean into the face role.

Harengon 5 – Flexible stats, Perception proficiency, and a bonus action to get out of melee range are all fantastic perks for any character. What seals this as a 5 is the bonus to Dex saves, protecting your smaller hit point pool, and the scaling bonus to your initiative, allowing you to unload your spell of choice on the bad guys before they get the chance to do anything.

Hexblood 5 – Hex Magic gives you some additional casting, including Hex for any blaster-style builds, Eerie Token gives you a couple of very useful scouting options, and to top it all off, you can choose your own stats. An easy 5 for many classes.

Hobgoblin 3 – The Int is worthless, and the martial weapons will likely go unused, but the light armor proficiency can at least save you a spell known on Mage Armor. What holds this at a 3 is that armor proficiency and the +2 Con bump, but it’s a low 3 at best.

Human 2 – You’ll have a pretty good stat array across the board. Unfortunately, that’s all you’ll have, and half of them won’t be particularly useful to being a Sorcerer.

• Variant Human PHB 5 – Bump the stats you need to whilst grabbing a skill and feat of your choice, right at 1st level. This is a great way to facilitate a feat heavy, or dependent, build without having to wait for your ASIs or compromising your Charisma progression.
• Mark of Finding 2 – This is the same as the half-orc version above, that is to say, niche.
• Mark of Handling 2 – This variant is loaded with incredibly thematic abilities for animal lovers, but those features are also incredibly niche, with the highlight for Sorcerers being the floating +1.
• Mark of Making 3 – Being able to give your martial companions a +1 weapon without spending your precious spell slots or concentration is a nice support ability, helping seal this variant at a 3 despite a +2 Int.
• Mark of Passage 4 – Good stats, a 35 ft. movement speed, and a free casting of Misty Step once per day is a robust, mobile option for the Sorcerer, ensuring you can get to where you need to no matter what.
• Mark of Sentinel 3 –  Okay stats, and a free casting of Shield is nice, but you likely won’t make use of Vigilant Guardian, and there’s no Cha bump in sight.

Kalashtar 4 – Advantage on all Wisdom saving throws is a great defensive feature that becomes increasingly important as levels increase. This, combined with a +1 Cha, resistance to psychic damage, and two-way telepathy make a compelling option. This would be a 5 if it had a more relevant +2 than Wisdom or a more active feature to aid in your adventuring.

Kender 4 – There’s nothing here to make you a better spellcaster, but the Taunt ability works with your Cha modifier and gives you a solid bonus action that won’t cost you spell slots of sorcery points. Combine this with flexible stats, a skill from a decent list, and the over-tuned Fearless makes this a good, but not quite great, option for a Sorcerer.

Kenku 2 – There’s nothing here that makes you better at being a Sorcerer, and the stats aren’t enough to elevate this flightless birdfolk to a 3. If you want to make a skill monkey Sorcerer, then the skills from Kenku Training will be of interest to you, but that is a niche build for a Sorcerer.

Kobold 4 – This can be an excellent option for blasting Sorcerers, able to easily get advantage on spells such as Scorching Ray and provide advantage to others through the use of Grovel, Cower, and Beg. This is held back from being a 5 due to only a +2 in Dex, less than every other race option, and the potential penalty of Sunlight Sensitivity.

Leonin 3 – There’s enough here between the movement speed, +2 Con, and Daunting Roar to rate this at a 3. This can’t go any higher with the latter tied to Con for its DC and a +1 Str bonus. 

Lizardfolk 3 – This is mainly useful for Natural Armor replacing Mage Armor and the +2 Con; everything else is very niche or not suitable for most Sorcerers.

Locathah 1 – No matter how good some of the features are here, there’s no Charisma bonus. Oh, and you can suffocate to death if aren’t constantly around enough water to submerge yourself, which is a little bit of a deal breaker.

Loxodon 3 – With +2 Con, the useful defense of Loxodon Serenity, and Natural Armor this is good enough for a 3. However, there’s no Charisma bump, no features to help your spellcasting, and Natural Armor will give you a lower AC than Mage Armor, holding this back from going any higher.

Minotaur 1 – The stats are bad, and none of the features will be useful for you, with the exception of Imposing Presence.

Orc 1 – There’s nothing really here for a Sorcerer besides the +1 Con, Aggressive isn’t very helpful as you’ll want to run away from monsters more often than towards them.

Owlin 5 – Flexible stats, 120 ft. darkvision, Stealth proficiency, and most importantly, at-will flight from 1st level. A great option for any Sorcerer, less appealing for Shadow Sorcerers as they will already have that level of darkvision.

Plasmoid 4 – The flexible stats and damage resistances lift this to a low 4, with a d6 Hit Die resistances go a long way to keeping you up. However, Amorphous is of limited use as it’d likely strand you without a component pouch or focus and the pseudopod of Shape Self is a worse version of Mage Hand, without the safety of not touching the thing.

Reborn 4 – Flexible stats and Deathless Nature are enough to put this at a 4, with Knowledge from a Past Life being a nice bonus. Without something that more directly impacts your role as a Sorcerer, this isn’t good enough to be a 5.

Satyr 5 – Great stats, Magic Resistance, two face skills, a 35 ft. movement speed, and some ribbon features make this an easy 5. 

Beasthide Shifter 3 – With a Con bump and a significant chunk of temporary hit points, and a small AC boost makes this good enough for a 3, but otherwise, there just isn’t much here for a Sorcerer.

Longtooth Shifter 2 – The bonus action attack is clunky to use and of no use to you with a low Strength. The stats aren’t good, and the temp hp from shifting are the only thing saving this from a 1.

Swiftstride Shifter 3 – Good stats, some temporary hit points, and a mobility boost that helps keep you out of trouble. If you could shift more often, this would be worth a 4.

Wildhunt Shifter 3 – The stats are less than ideal, but denying monsters advantage against you with temp hp on top is a solid enough defense to warrant a 3 with the +1 Dex.

Simic Hybrid 4 – Good stats and the various benefits offered by Animal Enhancement allow for customization and some solid options. Manta Glide or Nimble Climber are most recommended for 1st level, with Carapace being the most recommendable for 5th level.

Tabaxi 4 – Good stats, good skills, and excellent mobility make this a good choice for the Sorcerer, but not quite good enough for a 5.

Thri-kreen 4 – Chameleon Carapace will save you the spell known and slots on Mage Armor and give you advantage on Stealth checks at will, given you’ll at least have a modest Dexterity, that’s a huge boon for those sneaky missions. Thri-kreen telepathy and Sleepless are nice ribbons, although Secondary Arms won’t be much benefit to you unless you grab shield proficiency from somewhere.

Tiefling (PHB aka Asmodeus) 4 – The Int bonus is useless to you, but the Cha is perfect and the spells on offer are useful. An upcast Hellish Rebuke gives you a solid punishment option for when Shield won’t save you, and fire is a solid resistance to have.

• Baalzebul 3 – Like the original, but with significantly worse spells, with poison and charm being rather unreliable. Still, fire resistance and +2 Cha is still worth a 3 with the spells, even if they could be better.
• Dispater 4 – Great stats and a great selection of utility spells, it’s recommended that you pick up Subtle Spell to get the most out of Detect Thoughts.
• Fierna 3 – Good stats, the spells are… not the best, but are a good selection for a face Sorcerer, you’ll definitely want Subtle, however.
• Glasya 5 – Great stats and great spells, Twinned Spell is recommended to get the most value out of Invisibility.
• Levistus 5 – Excellent stats and excellent spells, with Armor of Agathys at 2nd level being a particular stand out, this is superior to the Asmodeus version in every way for Sorcerers.
• Mammon 3 – That Int bonus creeping back in is unfortunate, but the spells are some nice utility you normally can’t afford or choose as a Sorcerer.
• Mephistopheles 3 – The spells are just bad and will age very poorly, even a fire-based Draconic Sorcerer can’t really salvage them.
• Zariel 3 – This just scrapes a 3 because of the Cha bump and fire resistance, the smite spells aren’t bad spells, but you will lack the means to deliver them effectively, and Str is pretty much useless to you.

Tortle 3 -The only thing here for you is the Natural Armor and some niche applications of Shell Defense. A fixed AC of 17 is very good, good enough to warrant a 3, but there’s nothing else here for you.

Triton 4 – +1s in what you want to boost, some Charisma-based control spells, a damage resistance, and some niche ribbons make this a strong option, particularly for aquatic campaigns.

Vedalken 3 – The stats are terrible, but Vedalken Dispassion is a great defense for your mental stats and Tireless Precision is a great skill boost. Without better supporting stat bumps, this can’t punch above a 3.

Warforged 5 – Great stats, a boost to your AC, Constructed Resilience, and a skill and tool of your choice make this a very good option for a durable Sorcerer.

Yuan-Ti Pureblood 5 – +2 Charisma, Charisma-based spellcasting, Magic Resistance, and the unique Poison Immunity make this a very compelling Sorcerer option, one that would be surprisingly tough in certain fights.

Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse Race Options

As mentioned previously any races that are republished without changes won’t be included in this section. In addition, following previously mentioned guidance, there won’t be any ratings lower than a 3 in this section due to all races being able to assign stats to taste. 

Note: Spells will be rated more highly here than they may appear above because all spells given can be cast with any spell slots you may have. This is a significant boost for an Artificer, giving them access to spells they may not otherwise have and freeing up their number of prepared spells.

Note: The Fey Ancestry and Trance traits listed in these races differ significantly from the versions published in other books like the PHB.

Aarakocra 4 – Flexible stats, Flight, and Cha-based Gust of Wind are a great base, but there isn’t quite enough here for a 5 considering both the Fairy and Owlin offer more on top of the flight speed.

Aasimar 5 – Two resistances, whatever stat bumps you want, some healing, Light, darkvision, and a bonus action transformation that will give you a damage bump. There’s easily enough here to make this a 5 overall, even if some individual pieces have been nerfed, like Healing hands and the transformation damage, the overall changes make this more usable for the Sorcerer than the already strong original. Each transformation will be reviewed below as if it was a subrace:

• Necrotic Shroud 3 – This no longer affects your party members, but it still has a very short range and duration, holding it back at a 3.
• Radiant Consumption 3 – Auto-hitting AOE damage is great, but putting yourself close to the monsters and hurting yourself with a d6 Hit Die is not an ideal situation.
• Radiant Soul 5 – A bonus action fly speed is a fantastic boost to your mobility without cutting down on your spellcasting options.

Bugbear 4 – There’s a lot of good here, but you most likely won’t use Long Limbed and Surprise Attack requires you to win initiative with a mediocre Dexterity and no other boosts. To make the most of this race, you would need to pick up the Alert feat and keep multiple attack roll-based spells on hand.

Centaur 3 – The stats are now workable, and the 40 ft. speed is nice. However, there’s nothing else here for a Sorcerer, and the difficulty in handling certain terrain really devalues the increased movement speed compared to other options.

Changeling 4 – Best for face Sorcerers and intrigue campaigns, but the flexible stats make this a good option with a fun and unique ability.

Deep Gnome 4 – Gnomish Magic Resistance has been nerfed to be even more situational, but the spellcasting can be occasionally useful, and Svirfneblin Camouflage can help you pass the Stealth checks that matter. The features aren’t quite generally useful enough to warrant a 5, but this is still a strong choice.

Duergar 5 – Excellent defenses with Dwarven Resilience and Psionic Fortitude, 120 ft. darkvision, and the option to cast Invisibility on yourself for free once a day, or with your slots more often. The self-only Enlarge won’t be useful for the majority of Sorcerers, but at least you can help carry the treasure out of the dungeon at the end of the day.

Eladrin 5 – The original was a good option; giving this race flexible stats, more uses of the teleport ability, and adding more value to Trance just makes it even better.

Firbolg 5 – Some utility spells are a welcome addition to your spells known and the increased uses of Hidden Step is a fantastic way to get out of trouble or gain advantage for the odd attack roll-based spell. 

Genasi, Air 5 – The damage resistance is not the most commonly needed, but with a bevy of spells offered by Mingle with the Wind supplementing your spells known and spell slots, this is a great option for Sorcerers.

Genasi, Earth 5 – Pass without Trace is a fantastic spell that you can now also cast with your own spell slots. What helps carry this to a 5 is the durability boost a bonus action version of Blade Ward provides. This allows even a d6 Hit Die caster to take some bandit swords to the face in the name of tanking for the party.

Genasi, Fire 4 – Fire resistance is nice, Produce Flame using your Charisma will be appreciated. However, Burning Hands will age poorly, and Flame Blade is just a terrible spell, holding this back from a 5.

Genasi, Water 3 – There’s a lot here, but it’s all incredibly niche. From the acid resistance to the very specific water-based spells, you could go entire adventuring days without most of your racial abilities being relevant to you. Best reserved for aquatic campaigns or roleplaying-heavy builds.

Githyanki 5 – Psionic spellcasting is a huge boost, basically giving you a few free castings with Subtle Spell built in, along with an invisible Mage Hand. Combined with Astral Knowledge and psychic resistance, this is easily a 5, with the free addition of Misty Step to your spells known being a driving factor.

Githzerai 5 – For similar reasons to the Githyanki, this is a great choice for any sorcerer with the addition of Shield that won’t count against your spells known being very welcome. Mental Discipline gives you protection against very common monster-imposed conditions, and psychic resistance can save you some hit points from time to time.

Goblin 4 – Nimble Escape is a great escape option, Fey Ancestry adds to your mental defenses, and the new flexible stats makes this race a good option for any Sorcerer. The nerf to the nova potential of Fury of the Small keeps this update from being a 5.

Goliath 4 – A massive boost to your survivability, the option of using Stone’s Endurance turn after turn can allow you to shrug off enough damage you’ll forget what your Hit Die even is. This can help you step up to tank when needed and means that you’re extremely unlikely ever to lose concentration on your spells when it matters most. Everything else is a nice addition, but not quite enough for a full 5 rating. 

Hobgoblin 3 – Whilst this might look like a great support option on the surface, Fey Gift doesn’t allow you to take the Help action at range, and you won’t want to be next to a monster if you can help it. This means that it is relegated to generating temporary hit points by helping with skill checks outside of combat. That just leaves Fortune from the Many, which can help you make a roll when you really need to, but is dependent on party positioning.

Kenku 4 – There’s nothing here that makes you better at being a spellcaster, but this is a fantastic way to turn your Sorcerer into a qualified skill monkey. As a bonus, your Charisma-focused nature makes you very effective at using the Mimicry feature.

Kobold 5 – You now get the full stat boost like other races, the option of grabbing another cantrip, a skill proficiency, or protecting yourself from being frightened makes this race very customizable, yet effective. The Draconic Cry ability also allows you to support your party at the same time as giving yourself advantage for your blasting spell of choice. Easily a 5.

Lizardfolk 4 – The Natural Armor can save you some slots and a spell known on Mage Armor, but you can’t effectively make use of Hungry Jaws, which holds this back. This makes a 4 thanks to the two skill proficiencies but is a long way from a 5.

Minotaur 3 – The stats are now flexible, which makes this at least a 3, but this is arguably worse in terms of features as you lose the skill proficiency for the highly situational Labyrinthine Recall.

Orc 4 – Adrenaline Rush is like a limited-use Expeditious Retreat spell, except it also gives you a small number of temporary hit points too. Relentless Endurance seals this as a 4, giving you a second chance when your smaller number of HP fails you.

Satyr 4 – Whilst still a good option, this update is actually worse than the original. The stats were already great for you, making the flexible stats a side grade, whilst Magic Resistance has gotten significantly nerfed in applicability. 

Sea-Elf 3 – This is still incredibly niche. Even if you’re playing an aquatic campaign, there are other options that provide more useful features on top of the swim speed and breathing underwater features.

Shadar-Kai 5 – All the greatness of the original, but with the upgraded Trance and so many more uses of the fantastic Blessing of the Raven Queen. This is both a highly mobile Sorcerer option and a durable one.

Shifter 3 – The number of times you can shift has now been changed to equal your proficiency bonus, however, the number of temporary hit points you gain has been significantly nerfed from level+Con to just twice your proficiency modifier. This is better at 1st level, and then never catches back up to the original formula. The individual shifting features will be reviewed below:

• Beasthide 4 – The AC boost is still nice to have and the additional d6 temporary hitpoints help to make them a worthwhile pool that can actually fully absorb a hit.
• Longtooth 3 – The bonus action attack is now much better thanks to being able to use it on the same turn you shift, but you still don’t want to make Strength-based melee attacks.
• Swiftstride 4 – Still a good way to get where you need to be, whilst letting you get away from the monsters barreling towards you.
• Wildhunt 3 – This is still a solid defensive feature, but is less compelling with much fewer temp HP behind it. This would be higher rated if you had some way of giving enemies advantage to your benefit, like a Barbarian’s Reckless Attack.

Tabaxi 4 – Just like the original, but slightly better. The stats were already a good fit for you, with the upgrade to flexible stats, the increase in claw damage, and the higher climbing speed not quite enough to tip this to a 5 for a Sorcerer.

Tortle 4 – The same great AC from the original, but now bolstered by flexible stats that makes this hero in a half-shell, a more natural Sorcerer. Totally a Donny.

Triton 4 – The flexible stats makes this version slightly better for you than the original, allowing you to put that +1 into something more relevant than Strength. Besides that and being able to cast your racial spells with your own slots, this is basically the same and not improved enough to warrant a 5.

Yuan-ti 4 – Losing the Int bump is definitely an improvement, but the downgrade to Magic Resistance and Poison Immunity becoming just resistance also downgrade the rating to a 4. If the spellcasting were more applicable, this would push to a 5.

Sorcerer Feats Guide

Feats can be a fantastic way to build out the toolkit of the Sorcerer, giving them additional resources and spell casting to round out and compensate for their limited number of spells known and desire to convert spell slots into sorcery points. Where possible, I would advise choosing feats in a way that won’t interfere much with your Charisma progression, such as half feats that give +1 Cha, or getting your Cha to 18 first.

The contents in the following list of feats are arranged alphabetically, but divided by the books they are found in to make it easy to see what you can choose from if certain sources are not allowed at your table. If a feat has a race prerequisite, it is denoted in [brackets]. Other prerequisites may apply, such as minimum stats, or the ability to cast a spell so be sure to check the book text when choosing feats.

PHB Feats

Alert 4 – With a middling Dex score and no subclasses that provide an initiative bonus, this feat can help ensure that you get the chance to unleash your opening spell of choice before the bad guys get a chance to act. One of the things that help push this to a 4 is preventing you from being surprised, something that is likely to happen with a lower Wisdom modifier and that you can’t afford with a smaller hit point total than most classes.

Athlete 2 – The benefits on offer aren’t really appealing to you unless you plan on going prone to protect yourself from ranged attacks. This gets a 2, however, as it does allow you to round out an odd Dex score, making this a niche choice but not entirely useless to you.

Actor 3 – Whilst this feat won’t make you a better Sorcerer, it does allow you to round out an odd Charisma score, making it a fun and low-cost option. Best for face builds.

Charger 1 – There’s nothing here of value to you, your athletics won’t be good enough to reliably Shove a creature, and you don’t want to be making melee weapon attacks.

Crossbow Expert 2 – You have no reason to use a hand crossbow. The only real value to this feat is not putting your ranged attack spells at disadvantage in melee, which is not worth taking this feat. If you’re interested in that benefit, consider the Gunner feat instead. 

Defensive Duelist 2 – Not for every Sorcerer, but can be used with an off-hand dagger to give you a Shield-like effect. A very niche choice, best taken as a variant human to help at low levels where spells known and slots are both so few.

Dual Wielder 1 – You won’t be using two-weapon fighting.

Dungeon Delver 2 – A good feat if you’re going to be in a dungeon-heavy campaign. However, there are likely better characters to take it than you.

Durable 3 – Another low-cost feat as it allows you to round out an odd Con score, the benefit itself is fairly minor and dependent in you having a good Con modifier. A feat best avoided unless you’re playing a game with altered rest rules, such as the Gritty Realism variant from the DMG.

Elemental Adept 2 – Specializing in a single damage type is niche by definition, however, this is a must-have if you’re choosing to make a Sorcerer that focuses on a single element.

Grappler 1 – You don’t want this feat. It’s questionable if anyone wants this feat.

Great Weapon Master 1 – You don’t have the proficiencies, Strength, or class features to use this.

Healer 3 – This is a good way to add a chunk of healing onto any character and scales well with level. There are probably other party embers better suited to taking this feat than you, but if you want to make your Sorcerer into more of a healer, this is a good choice.

Heavily Armored 1 – You don’t qualify for this feat, and wouldn’t want it if you did.

Heavy Armor Master 1 – Yeah, you don’t, and can’t, wear heavy armor. 

Inspiring Leader 5 – A great feat that increases the survivability of your entire party, and any summons or NPCs you might have tagging along. This allows you to leverage your high Charisma mod, making you a perfect candidate for it.

Keen Mind 1 – You don’t want Int, even if these ribbon abilities are neat party tricks.

Lightly Armored 1 – Unless you have some really sweet magic light armor sitting around in your party’s loot, this is just an expensive way to get worse AC than using Mage Armor.

Linguist 1 – There are better ways to communicate with people, or read things. Hint: You’re a Wizard Sorcerer, Harry Stephen.

Lucky 4 – This is good for everyone, but best left for after you’ve maxed your Charisma and taken any feats that are more specific to your build.

Mage Slayer 1 – You’d rather fight magic with magic than take a feat and hit bad guys with your walking stick.

Magic Initiate 3 – A decent choice, particularly if you choose Sorcerer as the class. This allows you to add another spell known, and get a free casting of that spell. Good options for this include Shield and Mage Armor.

Martial Adept 1 – You don’t use weapons, and if you do, this is still niche enough that it’s a 1.

Medium Armor Master 1 – You don’t qualify for this feat.

Mobile 2 – A speed boost is nice, but you won’t be making use of the hit and tun tactics that this feat primarily enables.

Moderately Armored 1 – You don’t qualify for this feat, and there are cheaper ways to get medium armor.

Mounted Combatant 1 – You have no way of giving yourself a good mount and wouldn’t want to make monsters hit you instead of it even if you did.

Observant 1 – This is better taken by characters that are Wisdom-focused or that have additional ASIs. 

Polearm Master 1 – Whilst you are likely to hold a quarterstaff, you won’t have the Strength to use it effectively, and you have better things to do with your action economy than play martial.

Resilient 3 – A good way to reinforce your Wisdom saving throws in tiers 3 and 4, but not worth it for most of your career and so relegated to a 3.

Ritual Caster 3 – As long as you already have a stat high enough to qualify for this feat, preferably Wisdom, this is a very solid option to increase your spellcasting utility. This allows you to have spells like Detect Magic without them clogging up your very limited spells know. It also opens up spells previously unavailable to you, such as Unseen Servant and Find Familiar. 

Savage Attacker 1 – You don’t use weapons, so you doubly don’t want this bad feat.

Sentinel 1 – This feat revolves around opportunity attacks, which you aren’t in a good position to make.

Sharpshooter 1 – As a fullcaster without a martial subclass, this is of no interest to you.

Shield Master 1 – You don’t have proficiency with shields.

Skilled 2 -If you want to be a skill monkey character, then this can be valuable, but that is very niche for a Sorcerer.

Skulker 1 – Your Stealth modifier won’t be particularly high, and you won’t be making any ranged weapon attacks. Keep on skulking down the list!

Spell Sniper 3 – A good choice to get the most value out of your attack spells, from your cantrips to your leveled spells. This is best if your DM regularly makes use of cover for your monster, or remembers that firing into melee past your allies should yield some degree of cover.

Tavern Brawler 1 – Whilst you certainly could start punching people, hitting them with a chair, and grappling them… This isn’t the bad old days. When you’re out of spell slots, you have cantrips to use instead.

Tough 4 – If you’re concerned about your hit point total because of that small d6 Hit Die, then this feat can remedy that in one shot. This will leave you with a maximum hit point total more similar to a FIghter, than a Wizard. Just remember, you don’t get any more hit points back on a short rest, so you may need to group’s healer to help top you off occasionally.

War Caster 4 – You shouldn’t have trouble maintaining concentration with Con save proficiency, but advantage on those saving throws doesn’t hurt and makes it extremely unlikely you’ll drop that expensive spell. Without shield proficiency, you likely won’t make use of the second bullet point, but the last one makes opportunity attacks worthwhile for you.

Weapon Master 1 – There are so many better ways to get weapon proficiencies, such as from your race or a one level multiclass dip.

XGtE Feats

Bountiful Luck [Halfling] 1 – Your reaction is hotly contested by spells like Shield, Absorb Elements, and Counterspell, so using it to turn off your great Lucky ability for a round isn’t very compelling.

Dragon Fear [Dragonborn] 5 – You can round out your Charisma score, whilst making your breath weapon more useful as a control feature. What seals this as a 5 is the new breath weapon using your Charisma modifier.

Dragon Hide [Dragonborn] 4 – The claws are not going to be of use to you, but you can consider this a way to remove your dependency on Mage Armor whilst boosting your Cha.

Drow High Magic [Drow] 5 – This is a lot of spellcasting, giving you three useful spells that key off of your Charisma modifier. 

Dwarven Fortitude [Dwarf] 2 – With no way to Dodge as a bonus action, and such a small Hit Die, this is of limited use. With that said, it allows you to boost your Con, and you can cast a spell with your bonus action, maybe with Quickened Spell, making this niche but possibly useful.

Elven Accuracy [Elf or Half-Elf] 4 – If you’re playing a blasting character, with plenty of attack roll spells, then this can be very valuable. However, that’s a limited amount of spells, and you need to get advantage to begin with. The ability to boost your Charisma, and the uniquely powerful benefit, warrant a 4, but it’s not a 5 for you.

Fade Away [Gnome] 2 – You can boost your odd Dex score, but the benefit is competing with your defensive spells and is overly limited in the number of uses.

Fey Teleportation [High Elf] 4 – Not the best way to grab Misty Step, but learning this great spell, with a free use, and all whilst increasing your Charisma is a great package. This might have been contentious for a 5 if Fey Touched didn’t exist, but it does, so keep reading!

Flames of Phlegethos [Tiefling] 3 – If you want to play a fire-focused Sorcerer, then this is a great feat, especially since it boosts Charisma, making it very low-cost. However, it’s niche enough that it can’t punch above a 3.

Infernal Constitution [Tiefling] 4 – This is a significant defensive boost, taking your total number of resistances up to a whopping three! As this also allows you to increase your Con, essential for both your hit points and your concentration, this feat manages a 4.

Orcish Fury [Half-Orc] 2 – You won’t be using weapons, which most of this feat is about, but it does offer a Con bump, so on the off chance you’re playing a gish Sorcerer this gets a 2.

Prodigy [Half-Orc, Half-Elf, Human] 3 – Whilst this won’t necessarily make you a better Sorcerer, gaining double your proficiency bonus to a skill is very useful. This is best for skill monkeys, but all Sorcerers would benefit from a boost to Stealth or Perception.

Second Chance [Halfling] 5 – Boosting your Charisma, Dexterity, or Constitution by +1 makes this feat low cost, and getting a potent defensive reaction that you can use every combat is a great weight off of your spell slots. This is particularly great for when a monster rolls a critical hit against you, allowing you to reroll it when Shield would not have been able to help you.

Squat Nimbleness [Dwarf] 2 – Being able to boost your Dex is propping up the rating of this feat. The benefits just aren’t compelling enough to warrant most Sorcerers taking, with better ways of boosting your speed or dealing with being grappled available to this fullcaster.

Wood Elf Magic [Wood Elf] 3 – Adding more spells to a Sorcerer is usually a good thing; when one of those spells is the outstanding Pass without Trace, it’s even better. Longstrider is a great mobility buff, either for yourself or a melee-based ally. This doesn’t warrant being higher than a 3 without being able to cast the spells granted with your own spell slots but is still a solid choice.

Eberron: RftLW Feats

Aberrant Dragonmark [Non-Dragonmarked Race] 3 -More Sorcerer spells whilst boosting your Con score is a good package, the need to use Con as the spellcasting modifier is a negative but mitigated by your choice of spells. It’s not recommended to expend a Hit Die when using the 1st level spell, unless you have little-to-no party members within range of getting damaged.

Revenant Blade [Elf] 1 – You don’t want to be using weapons, even if they are nifty ones.

Artificer Initiate 2 -This can be a good way to grab Guidance and a 1st level support spell that interests you, but relying on Intelligence holds this back from being a 3. 

Chef 2 – A fun and flavorful feat that provides some support for the party whilst rounding out your odd Con score. This is a feat for those interested in the roleplay aspect, the mechanical benefits just aren’t good enough to warrant your ASI alone. ideally, the temporary hit points would have been much more substantial.

Crusher 1 – You won’t be using weapons, and there just aren’t enough Sorcerer spells that deal bludgeoning damage for this to be worth taking.

Eldritch Adept 4 – There are a lot of great Eldritch Invocations to choose from here, with strong choices including Armor of Shadows to free up a spell known and slots on Mage Armor and Fiendish Vigor significantly increasing your durability. Devil’s Sight is an excellent choice for Sorcerers looking to make use of the Darkness spell and a race that lacks darkvision for mundane darkness.

Fey Touched 5 – A Charisma boost and two leveled spells, one of which is arguably one of the best Tier 1 spells in the game. What really seals this as a 5 is the ability to use your own spell slots to cast your new spells when you’ve used your free castings. Bless, Hex, and Detect Magic are all good choices for the 1st level spell.

Fighting Initiate 2 – With the sheer variety in fighting styles, particularly being able to choose the social Battle Master maneuvers, this warrants at least a 2 for the number of options and niche builds it can support.

Gunner 2 – Low cost if you have an odd Dex score, this is useful if your spells are more focused on attack rolls, rather than saving throws. This is only a 2 as you can easily mitigate the need for it by choosing your spells well.

Metamagic Adept 5 – Sorcerers can always benefit from more sorcery points and Metamagic options. This can save you from cannibalizing your spell slots for more points, or can allow you to afford to convert some points into slots without cutting back on how often you use your Metamagic. This is particularly great for subclasses that use sorcery points to fuel features, allowing the feat to fuel your Metamagic whilst your natural sorcery points fuel your subclass.

Piercer 1 – The same as Crusher, you don’t want to use weapons and there aren’t enough spells that deal piercing damage to make this worth your while, Dex bump or not.

Poisoner 2 – If you’re attracted to using poison-based spells, then this can make your build more viable, but that is a significant niche considering how few poison spells are on the Sorcerer spell list.

Shadow Touched 5 – Rounding out your odd Charisma whilst grabbing two spells with a free casting each is a great feat for a Sorcerer. Invisibility is a good spell, with Disguise Self, False Life, and Silent Image being good picks for the 1st level spell.

Skill Expert 4 – You can boost any stat you like, whilst gaining a new skill and doubling your proficiency bonus in one skill of your choice. This is a low-cost way of making valuable skills, such as Perception and Stealth, without delaying your stat progression. This is only a 4, as it doesn’t directly enhance your spellcasting or core role as a Sorcerer.

Slasher 1 – Like the other feats of its ilk, there just isn’t enough opportunity for you to use the benefits of this feat, which lands it with a 1 regardless of its Dex bump.

Telekinetic 5 -A Cha bump, a superior version of Mage Hand, and a good control ability that only costs you a bonus action. This is a great feat that fits on many different Sorcerer builds.

Telepathic 3 – A low-cost way of grabbing telepathy, but as it requires you to use languages, you know its utility is limited. This is the best way to use Detect Thoughts, however, as it requires no components to give you away whilst using it discreetly.

FToD Feats

Gift of the Chromatic Dragon 3 – This is primarily valuable for the reaction resistance, taking the place of Absorb Elements and saving you the associated costs as a result. The weapon buff is a useful support ability for melee martials in the party, but unlikely to be used on yourself. This is a solid choice, but not compelling enough for a higher score.

Gift of the Metallic Dragon 4 -A good way to get some Charisma-based healing whilst giving you a Shield-like reaction that can help out your party members too. This only gets a 4 as the defensive reaction only applies to the triggering attack, making Shield still much higher value.

Gift of the Gem Dragon 4 – Being able to punish monsters for hitting you is a great reaction to have, this is a reasonable amount of damage and can push them far enough away that they may not be able to attack you again that turn. The Charisma bump makes this easy to pick up, and props the rating up to a 4.

SCoC Feats

Note: More so than the Eberron feats, the following feats are designed explicitly for the high magic Strixhaven setting, and this is reflected in the balance of the feats. 

Strixhaven Initiate 4 – A better version of Magic Initiate, this has the benefits of allowing you to grab spells from different spell lists and cast the 1st level spell with your own spell slots. Quandrix is a strong choice of college, giving you access to Guidance, Mage Hand, and either a Druid or Wizard spell.

Strixhaven Mascot 1 –  Feat chains are very expensive, unless you’re gaining Strixhaven Initiate for free in some way, this just isn’t worth two ASIs. If you’re interested in having minions, then you would be better served by taking summoning spells instead.

DSotDQ Feats

Note: Similar to the Strixhaven feats above, these feats are intended to be used in the Dragonlance setting. The intention to represent characters that have survived such a war-torn world skews the design of these feats to be more powerful than standard. To reflect this, each feat has the requirement of ‘Dragonlance Campaign,’ as this applies to all feats in this section it won’t be listed individually, but other requirements will be listed in [ ] as normal.

Divinely Favored [4th level] 4 – Not only are you getting free castings and learning spells most Sorcerers wouldn’t be able to learn, but you also unlock the ability to use a holy symbol as a spellcasting focus for all your spells. Cleric or Druid are the most recommended lists if you’re choosing your character’s alignment with this feat in mind, as the Warlock list has significant overlap with the Sorcerer’s, whilst the latter two open new options like healing. This feat has a lot of value and adds some spellcasting versatility that isn’t easy to come by, this doesn’t quite warrant a 5 given it competes against powerful feats like Fey Touched and the potency of Augury can swing wildly.

Initiate of High Sorcery [Sorcerer or Wizard levels or the High Sorcery Background] 4 –  The value of this feat depends on whether you take it with an ASI, or get it for ‘free’ from your background. It’s hard to justify this feat on its own in exchange for an ASI unless you really want certain spells from it without multiclassing out of Sorcerer or have a particular build in mind. The ideal use case for this feat is to get it from your background and later take one of the Adept feats that require this feat. The best moon for combat is Nuitari, as all spells are combat-centric, whereas Lunitari is a more versatile moon, and Solinari blends utility and defense. If you intend to take an Adept feat, remember that your choice determines which color of robes you can take.

Adept of the Black Robes [4th level, Initiate of High Sorcery (Nuitari Moon)] 3 – Additional spellcasting is great, but there aren’t many compelling choices for this feat. If you do go with this feat, then Blindness/Deafness is a strong choice that will be applicable throughout your career. The Life Channel part of the feat is a neat way to add damage to your spells, however, it only applies to saving throw spells and uses your Hit Die. This can leave you without enough to spend on a short rest to heal, whilst also only adding a meager d6 for a harsh trade-off.

Adept of the Red Robes [4th level, Initiate of High Sorcery (Lunitari Moon)] 5 –  Requiring a feat to get access to this is a high cost, but in this case, it’s more than worth it. Magical Balance is a great ability that scales with your level and will benefit all Sorcerer builds, whilst Insightful Magic gives you a relatively large list of spells to choose from, with some solid options included. Example spells that would be good to take are Dragon’s Breath, Invisibility, and Spike Growth.

Adept of the White Robes [4th level, Initiate of High Sorcery (Solinari Moon)] 4 – A combination of solid spell access and a decent defensive ability makes this a middle-of-the-road feat compared to its two robed brethren. Stand-out spells to take with this feat are Aid, Pass without Trace, and Warding Bond, with the latter pairing well with the damage reduction of Protective Ward. That damage reduction feature offers a good, but not great, formula thanks to the inclusion of your Charisma modifier alongside the d6s. This doesn’t warrant a 5, however, as using Protective Ward will meaningfully cut into your spellcasting, Sorcery Points, or both.

Squire of Solamnia [Fighter or Paladin levels or the Knight of Solamnia background] 2 –  You won’t qualify for this feat by default, with the easiest way to get it being the background. The benefits of this feat have nothing to do with your spellcasting or most Sorcerer builds, however, as it can be very valuable to some builds, notably ‘Sorcadins,’ it warrants at least a low 2.

Knight of the Crown [4th level, Squire of Solamnia] 1 – If you qualify for this then you already invested in hitting monsters with a weapon yourself, taking a feat to let others do that is a waste of resources on a Sorcerer that could be Twinning Haste. The investment cost is high enough that even the +1 bump to a physical stat doesn’t save this from a 1.

Knight of the Rose [4th level, Squire of Solamnia] 3 –  Still niche to melee-based builds, but this feat allowing you to bump your Charisma goes a long way to helping the investment cost. The temp HP formula itself is decent and has ample scaling built in to remain relevant throughout your career, being able to give those temp HP to yourself or an ally is valuable flexibility. If this didn’t require the Squire of Solamnia feat it may even push up to a 4.

Knight of the Sword [4th level, Squire of Solamnia] 2 –  Being able to bump your Charisma saves this from a 1, but if you want to frighten an enemy you’re better off using a spell for it and giving them disadvantage on the save. This is best for Sorcerers that multiclass into Paladin with the Oath of Conquest and at least has the perk of not triggering Magic Resistance, unlike spells.

Sorcerer Multiclassing Guide

In this section, we’ll review each class in terms of how good of a multiclass it is for a Sorcerer, mentioning how many levels and what subclass (if any) would work best. The ratings take multiclassing prerequisites into consideration; if a multiclass will require you to have a 13 in a stat other than Cha or Dex, then it may receive a lower score, but this isn’t as severe for Wis requirements as it’s a useful stat to have a +2 in if you can afford it. If it can be avoided, try not to just have a 13 in a prerequisite stat, an odd number is a dead number.

General multiclass tips for the Sorcerer:

• The primary weaknesses of the Sorcerer are the low number of spells known and the small Hit Die, so when multiclassing, consider classes that can help address these issues.
• As the Sorcerer lacks short rest resources, classes/subclasses which provide abilities or resources that do recharge on a short rest is a significant boon that would increase your endurance on long adventuring days.
• With sorcery points being tied to your Sorcerer level, you should try to avoid heavy multiclassing if your subclass uses sorcery points for its features, and set your Metamagic expectations according to your reduced pool of points. You may want to take the Metamagic Adept feat in order to compensate for the negatives of multiclassing.
• Consider why you want to multiclass. If it is to gain a mechanical benefit, perhaps look at races and feats to see if you can achieve the same thing without slowing your Sorcerer progression.
• Classes that use Charisma to some degree are preferred for dipping into, any other stat should be considered for its cost and benefits otherwise. For example, Wisdom is beneficial for Perception, and bolstering your Wisdom saves, which become increasingly common and debilitating as levels increase.

Artificer 3 -A niche multiclass given the Intelligence prerequisite and Int-based spellcasting, if you’re thinking about taking this class, you should try to aim for two levels to gain infusions. You should take spells that won’t rely on your Intelligence, such as Guidance, Absorb Elements, Sanctuary, etc. This gets at least a 3, due to adding some spells that you can rotate out daily, as well as giving you access to medium armor and shields, which is a substantial boost to your AC.

Barbarian 1 – Bad prerequisite, and the primary benefit shuts down your ability to cast spells. The only real benefit here is slightly more hit points and the medium armor and shield proficiencies, which are completely offset by the various downsides.

Bard 5 – A great dip for support Sorcerers looking to increase their support options and out of combat utility. Two levels are recommended for Jack of All Trades, which would also boost your initiative modifier. Bardic Inspiration being based on your Charisma modifier is excellent, however, it isn’t worth taking 5 levels in Bard to make the dice a short rest resource, and so taking a subclass isn’t recommended as they often rely on Bardic Inspiration for fuel. If you do take a subclass here, then Lore Bard is recommended for weaponizing your Bardic Inspiration, or the College of Valor for the medium armor and shield proficiency.

Cleric 5 – Wisdom makes this a very low-cost dip, whilst gaining a subclass at 1st level makes it particularly front-loaded. Avoiding spells that use your Wisdom is relatively easy with great choices like Guidance, Bless, Shield of Faith, and so on. There are a lot of fantastic subclass choices with Life Cleric making you a decent healer, an excellent healer if you are a Divine Soul, and/or have access to Twinned Spell. Twilight is also compelling for the boost to initiative and darkvision you can hand out to your allies. Depending on your chosen Domain, it might be worth taking a second level for Channel Divinity, this is particularly compelling for the Twilight domain as even 1d6+2 temporary hit points add up every round. The proficiency in medium armor and shields helps push this to a solid 5.

Druid 3 – A difficult dip to rate, the first level provides you little but access to armor and shields and the Druid spell list, with the catch that you are now limited to nonmetal armor the moment you take the 1st level of Druid. The second level is where this option really opens up, giving you access to Wild Shape for scouting and retreating purposes and a subclass. If you take this class as a dip, then two levels are strongly recommended to get the most value out of it as possible. Recommended Druid Circles are Land for the additional spell slot from Natural Recovery, and Stars for Guidance, free uses of Guiding Bolt, and Starry Form, which can make your healing worthwhile, and makes it extremely difficult to lose concentration on your spells.

Fighter 5 – You want a Dexterity high enough to qualify for this multiclass anyway, with 1 level bringing you a short rest self-heal, and a fighting style to boost your now-armored AC. What really pushes this to a 5 is taking a second level for Action Surge. You can now cast two leveled spells a turn, once per short rest, a massive boost to any fullcaster.

Monk 1 – You won’t have a high enough combination of Dexterity and Wisdom for this to be useful for you, and pivoting to being a melee fighter is not really a recommended suggestion for most Sorcerers. To make matters worse, your Ki pool, if you took multiple levels, would be incredibly small. Should you take three levels, Shadow is very attractive for once per short rest casting of Pass without Trace, Silence, or Darkness.

Paladin 3 – This is a popular multiclass combination that is mostly held back by the Strength requirement, the painful first level, and the need to take 5 levels to get the most out of leveraging Divine Smite. You need to take at least two levels of this class to make it worth your while, gaining access to Charisma-based healing and support spells you can swap out daily, a small pool of Lay on Hands, the ability to Smite with your high-level slots, and armor and shields. This is only rated as a 3, as it’s generally better to multiclass out of Paladin into Sorcerer, with the 1st level giving you little more than armor, and if you go five levels into it for Extra Attack, it’s probably questionable that you’re still mostly a Sorcerer for most builds. If you take three levels for an Oath, then Redemption is a great option for a social and combat boost, Watchers for a great mental save boost for your party, or Conquest for a control effect with Conquering Presence.

Ranger 2 – The Wisdom and Dexterity prerequisites are easy to meet, but the first level of this dip is mostly a dead level, whilst the magic you can gain at the second level isn’t worth the hindrance to your spellcasting and sorcery point progression. The main benefits to this dip would be access to armor and shields, Cure Wounds, and the Fighting Style, which can give you access to Guidance. If you take this far enough to choose a subclass, then Drakewarden and Beast Master, using the optional beasts from TCoE, is recommended as your companion will scale a lot with your proficiency bonus rather than your Ranger level.

Rogue 3 – The main benefits here are Expertise and Cunning Action, with the former able to make you an excellent face character and give you a Stealth modifier high enough to reliably hide away. Cunning Action adds valuable mobility to your Sorcerer without costing you spells known and spell slots, allowing you to retreat from any monsters that close into melee with you. Sneak Attack will rarely be used, but if you take Shadow Blade as a spell, you can shift to melee combat if need be and hit hard enough to be noticed, should you be feeling bold. If you take enough levels to gain a subclass, then Arcane Trickster is the most recommended, giving you an enhanced Mage Hand, increasing your spellcaster level, and giving you access to some Wizard spells.

Warlock 5 – An excellent multiclass option for many reasons, dipping into Warlock will give you a separate pool of spell slots that recharge on a short rest. These slots can be used to fuel your Shield and Absorb Elements defenses or cannibalized to top your sorcery points up to either use Metamagic more often or convert them into higher-level spell slots. A single level also gives you access to a subclass, whilst two levels double your short rest slots and give you access to Eldritch Invocations. The recommended level dip for this class is up to 3 levels, as every level brings you so much value, and the short rest spell slots offset your lost sorcery point progression. Recommended subclasses are the Celestial for access to healing, Hexblade for access to medium armor and shields alongside a damage bump in some combats, and Genie for a mix of damage and a utility storage space. Recommended invocations if you take two levels are Devil’s Sight, Agonizing Blast, Fiendish Vigor, and Armor of Shadows if you did not choose Hexblade as your Otherworldly Patron. If you take three levels, then recommended pacts are Chain for the enhanced familiar and Tome for access to ritual casting, which can include the vanilla version of Find Familiar.

Wizard 3 – Intelligence is a heavy price to pay for this multiclass, but if you are happy to pay it, then there is enough here to make it worth your while. This dip is best for grabbing the Ritual Casting feature, along with a slew of utility spells, and the added benefit of regaining a single 1st level spell slot once per day on a short rest courtesy of Arcane Recovery. Detect Magic, Find Familiar, Unseen Servant, and Alarm are all recommended ritual spells. If you take two levels in this class, then Divination, Evocation, War Wizard, and Bladesinger are all recommended subclasses, depending on your spellcasting style, with the last two being defense-orientated options.

Are you excited to channel the raw power you were born with, or are you just worried about burning the house down if you lose control? If you enjoyed this guide and found it helpful, comment below, and check out our other class guides. If you’re new to the game, or just looking to broaden your understanding, then check out our how to play section. Until next time, may your spell choices be wise and your sorcery points well spent!