Baldur's Gate 3 Builds: Sorcerer Class Build Guide

in this boulder's gate 3 sorcerer class build guide i'm going to be covering my sorcerer build for early access and showing you what i found to work best i'll be doing more build guides at the launch of baldur's gate 3 but for now let's look at how you can use a sorcerer effectively in the first act of the game sorcerers are well known for their magical prowess that stems from an ancient bloodline unchecked chaotic magic or mysterious circumstance unlike warlocks they don't depend on patrons for their strength of their spells and far from wizards arcane books are not essential to further develop their capabilities one class feature that distinguishes them from other spellcasters is their ability to incorporate metamagic to manipulate the way spells work to their liking making them versatile this also compensates for their lack of armor proficiency as it allows them to take charge in combat for instance they can use twin spell which lets them apply the spell's singular effects on a second target it's essential if you intend to eliminate multiple enemies in one turn another example is quicken spell with this sorcerers are able to cast two spells in one turn since one of them is considered a bonus action all in all there are seven meta magic options to choose from in early access at level 2 you can select two of them however unless otherwise stated you can't stack two metamagic features on a spell applying metamagic costs sorcery points replenishing these points are made possible through the conversion of spell slots or by taking a long rest furthermore if you wish to cast additional spells you can spend sorcery points to unlock more spell slots for those of you who have played pathfinder wrath of the righteous recently this works somewhat similarly to the arcanist class in this section we'll take a look at how to set up your source or during character creation for best results you don't have to follow this to the letter and it's likely this will change it full launch of the game however this will hold you in good stead during early access for background i suggest taking any that provides you with charisma skills since sorcerers need a good amount of this ability to hit targets with their spells and to improve the chances of successfully negotiating with and convincing npcs in dialogue these are deception persuasion intimidation and performance ideally you'd have all four of these if possible but you're more likely to get three out of four the first race that works well for the sorcerer class is the wood half elf this is due to the plus two charisma which allows you to reach 16 charisma and character creation on top of the two ability score points specifically you ought to allocate one point each to dexterity and constitution dexterity is important to the sorcerer because they're not proficient with armor any bonuses added to this ability improves their armor class making them more durable in combat constitution raises their max hp so it also contributes to the sorcerer's survivability as such you should at least have 16 dexterity and 14 constitution the wood half health also grants dark vision to help you land spells in the dark within a certain range as well as increased movement speed and stealth proficiency alternatively you may also want to consider the lost sworn or selen dream drow since it provides you with plus two dexterity plus one charisma and superior dark vision to see an attack better in the dark lastly a lightfoot halfling grants the same ability bonuses together with its unique lucky racial feature this lets you make another rule if an attack ability check or saving throw roll so one naturally for the sorcerer class there are two subclasses to choose from namely draconic bloodline or wild magic your decision depends on whether or not you prefer to have a dragon ancestor with draconic resilience or wild magic surge in tides of chaos at earlier levels since you essentially start with the same set of cantrips and spells draconic ancestry lets you focus on an elemental damage type to deal more damage while becoming resistant to it when you reach level 6 which isn't applicable to early access since you can't reach this level additionally you gain a specific spell based on the ancestry i prefer the draconic ancestry green poison and red fire because of the ray of sickness and burning hand spells respectively ray of sickness can be cast from afar while possibly poisoning your target and burning hands is for close range combat to inflict massive fire damage against multiple targets in aoe meanwhile draconic resilience not only enhances your max hp every time you level up the draconic of bloodline sorceress origin but you also set your armor class to 13 plus dexterity modifiers since you won't be wearing armor conversely wild magic surge lets you unleash a magical effect when you cast a spell this effect is chaotic meaning it can be against you or for you for instance you're able to cast mirror image to trick enemies into attacking your duplicates or one of your allies becomes poisoned for a period of time with tides of chaos you gain an advantage on your attack roll ability check or skill check once per day so you'll need to engage in a short or long rest to be able to use this feature again advantage is a mechanic which makes you roll a d20 twice for an attack rollability check or saving throughout between these two subclasses the draconic bloodline provides you with better stability and survivability because of the armor class bonus you receive compared to the erratic and random wild magic subclass but the choice is up to you for skills again it's not super important but you'll have high charisma and dexterity so selecting skills that fall under these abilities is ideal dexterity has acrobatic stealth and sleight of hand and i've already listed what christmas skills there are your primary ability as a sorcerer is charisma as this makes your spells more effective in combat for this reason you'll want at least 16 in this ability during character creation and likely 18 later on other than this dexterity and constitution are the abilities you should focus on for better durability since you're only proficient with clothing which doesn't raise your armor class that much you can then add points into wisdom intelligence or strength but it won't matter as much since they don't influence your spells however it's worth considering that they influence the outcome of your skill checks your ability spread should look something like this during character creation you'll be given can trips and spells to choose from but unlike wizards you won't have to prepare spells from a known list of spells to use them instead you learn a limited number of spells which are readily available not unlike the warlock class as such you have to be very selective about the ones you intend to own since sorcerers don't have access to all of their spells at level one you'll be able to choose four can trips the ones i like to go with are dancing lights ray of frost acid splash and chill touch dancing lights allows you to summon a wisp of light for allies who cannot see and hit well in the dark ray of frost is a ranged attack spell that deals cold damage while slowing the target down acid splash deals acid damage with an explosive aoe to inflict damage to other enemies near your intended target and finally chill touch deals necrotic damage while preventing targets from restoring their hp if you use this against the undead you also impose a disadvantage on their attack rolls making it harder for them to hit you there are also cantrips and spells whose effects are dependent on the sorcerer's concentration to remain active concentration is broken if you cast another can trip or spell that also requires concentration you can tell which these are because it will say on the spell itself for example if you cast dancing lights but then you cast witch bolt next you would stop concentrating on dancing lights and begin concentrating on witch bowl moreover if you take damage while concentrating on a spell you must make a constitution saving throw and if you fail then the effect of that spell ends should you succeed in your saving throw however you maintain your concentration and the spell continues this is why it's vital for sorcerers to have average to high constitution because of the spells that require this ability and they are wasted if it's constantly broken sorcerers have a variety of spells to pick from at level 1 you can select two of them i highly recommend choosing magic missile and thunder wave magic missile is an essential spell to have because it doesn't miss and it can finish off enemies especially if their hps are low thunder wave on the other hand is a great aoe spell to have because it knocks enemies backward which may sometimes kill them due to its short range you ought to use this against those who are moving close to you to push them away if you pick the draconic bloodline subclass you won't need mage armor anymore since you start with 13 armor class by default and mage armor effectively does the same thing flexible casting allows for the conversion of sorcery points into additional spell slots and vice versa this is a bonus action so you can use it on top of casting spells in the same turn at level two you gain two sorcery points which increase at a rate of one point per level sorcery points are used in metamagic which lets you choose ways to manipulate your spells in the meantime you'll be able to pick two metametric options out of four there's careful distant extended and twin spells careful spell lets you and your allies succeed in their saving throws so you automatically negate or reduce the effects of spells against them distance spell lengthens the range of some of your spells to allow you to hit enemies from a great distance extended spell doubles the duration of spells expects including conditions and conjured surfaces so enemies stay debilitated longer twin spell allows you to target two creatures with spells that would normally hit just one specifically i highly suggest taking distant and twin spell since you won't often need to roll for saving throws nor is it necessary to extend the duration of any condition since most of your spell effects don't have to be prolonged conversely with distance spells you're able to attack any type of enemy that's difficult to reach such as harpies examples include ray of frost ray of sickness and acid splash this even extends to spells in scrolls like the scroll of inflict wounds twin spell is a potent made a magic option because what this essentially does is to cast a spell twice using only a single spell slot which is huge for the sorcerer that only has three level one spell slots at level two because of this you're able to cast ray of sickness against two targets in the same turn for each of these metamagic options you'll have to spend one sorcery point sorcery points and spell slots are fully restored after taking a long rest at level two onward you'll be able to unlearn and learn old and new spells respectively via the replacement spell similar to the warlock unlearning a spell lets you select what you wish to remove from your list as a replacement you'll get to pick one spell when you level up alternatively if you want to keep your current list you can simply ignore this feature and continue to learn new spells in this sorcerer build guide we won't be unlearning any spells since the ones we've chosen are essential in combat lastly i suggest learning chromatic orb because it's a powerful spell that makes you choose the type of elemental damage you want to inflict from a distance at level 3 you'll be able to choose another metamagic option out of 5. three added options are heightened subtle and quicken spells heightened spell imposes a disadvantage on the recipient if they need to make saving throw rolls subtle spell lets you continue casting spells even when silenced and quicken spell converts all spells that are considered an action into a bonus action among these it's ideal to take quicken spell even if it costs three sorcery points unless you plan on frequently using saving throw spells or you're always being silenced which rarely happens going back to quick and spell in a single turn you can cast one spell as a bonus action instead of an action thereby allowing you to cast another spell this is highly effective against tough encounters and bosses alike since you're able to use whatever powerful spell you have twice moreover a great spell that you ought to choose at this level is scorching ray it deals 2-12 fire damage against multiple enemies or 3 times 2-12 damage to the same target this is a lot of damage making scorching ray very versatile and a must-have spell additionally you receive one level 1 spell slot and 2 level 2 spell slots at level 4 you'll gain another level 2 spell slot as well as a can trip furthermore you can pick a feat and i highly recommend selecting ability improvement to get to 18 in charisma as a sorcerer you want to prioritize boosting this as much as possible you can also pick one cantrip and one spell shock and grasp is a melee attack that deals one to eight lightning damage while preventing the target from reacting to any of your actions for instance enemies won't be able to perform attacks of opportunity when they move away making it multipurpose for the spell you can go with misty step hold person or mirror image misty step is vital when you intend to change positions to gain advantage prior to casting any of your ranged attack spells the only reason why you wouldn't take this is if you already have the amulet of misty step which is located in the shattered sanctum alternatively you can choose whole person to paralyze your target in place or a mirror image to conjure three duplicates of yourself in order to distract enemies when it comes to the sorcerer's equipment you don't have to invest in weapons and armor as much compared to other classes like the wizard wielding a quarter staff or light crossbow which you're proficient with won't matter much in spite of limited spell slots since you can readily replenish them after taking a long rest even if larian studios tweaked this feature to include the gathering of camp supplies it doesn't really limit your long rests as long as you manage to hoard these supplies since the sorcerer isn't proficient with any armor you can continue wearing the sorcerer robe you started off with because it contributes to your 16 armor class in terms of accessories you'll want to obtain the sapphire spark the absolutes talisman and the ring of color spray the sapphire spark can be purchased from blurg and the evan lake grotto provides you with an additional 1 to 4 psychic damage for each magic missile projectile as a result you inflict 9 to 27 damage with your level 1 magic missile while for level 2 it becomes 12 to 36 worth of damage which can one shot a lot of enemies no matter what your elevation with respect to that next the absolutes talisman which can be found in the shattered sanctum is good for survivability because it restores one to eight of your hp when you deal damage provided that your hp is already low lastly the ring of color spray grants you the color spray spell this is useful to blind enemies who are nearby in order to hamper their chances of successfully attacking you this is acquired in the secluded grove final tips the sorcerer class is very flexible in terms of the way they can cast their spells it allows them to be creative in the spells they choose depending on different metamagic options for instance if you often cast spells that makes enemies roll for saving throws like burning hands and thunder wave you may want the heightened spell instead of quick and spell metamagic this imposes a disadvantage on them which would increase the likelihood of receiving the full damage of these spells don't be afraid to experiment with other metamagic abilities you can preemptively select the metamagic option you want to use before the start of encounter this lets you plan out the spells you're about to cast in in whatever order you wish so if you were to use the twin spell on say ray of sickness your sorcery points will only be spent after you cast it against two enemies make sure to cast ranged attack spells from a higher elevation than your target in order to gain advantage examples of these include ray of frost ray of sickness and scorching ray to identify these spells you can refer to their respective descriptions lastly always try to surprise enemies by sneaking up on them you're able to improve this skill by having stealth proficiency not only does attacking them provide you with an advantage on attack rows but it also gives your party one whole round to wipe them out stay tuned for more baldur's gate 3 content obviously take a look at classes and builds and be sure to drop by our twitch channel if you have questions about the game if you need something specific check out our baldur's gate 3 wiki which is being worked on what did you think of our sorcerer build guide what are you excited about most in patch 6 let us know in the comments below [Music] [Music] [Music]

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Length: 14min 2sec (842 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 14 2021