D&D: The Five Best Sorcerer Subclasses
Sorcerers are fonts of power…unlimited power–as long as they’ve got the spell slots. Here are the five best Sorcerer subclasses.
Sorcerers are a mainstay of D&D and have been since 3rd edition. They’re the beautiful disaster person’s answer to the erudite Wizard. Where the Wizard “thinks about their problems” and “makes good life decisions,” Sorcerers rely on their Charisma to get them through.
This is why there are a lot of good-looking casters who aren’t very bright in D&D. Nevertheless, Sorcerers are a fantastic magic-using class. They have one of the best spell lists in the game. And the right subclass can take you over the top.
With an array of Origins that give you arcane powers from a variety of places, which one should you pick? Fret no more. Here are the five best Sorcerer subclasses in 5th Edition.
Draconic Bloodline
Draconic Bloodline Sorcerers are the OG Sorcerer. They’re also one of the better ones out there. They represent a good bar for what makes a good Sorcerer.
They get effectively a free, always on Mage Armor and one extra hit point per level of Sorcerer. And at higher levels, they get to play with elemental energies. Draconic Bloodline Sorcerers can add extra damage to certain spells and you can become resistant to damage if you need to.
DB Sorcerers take a while to get going, but eventually gain dragon wings and a frightful presence, which is very nice if your game goes that far.
Shadow Sorcerer
Shadow sorcerers are all about playing with the darkness. To wit, at 1st level you gain long darkvision, and at 3rd level, you gain the ability to cast a Darkness that you (and you alone) can see through.
But what really makes this one of the five best Sorcerer subclasses, is its ability to summon a Hound of Ill Omen for a paltry number of sorcery points. Whenever it’s near a target, you can use it to instantly impose disadvantage on an enemy. You effectively gain Heightened Spell metamagic, but better, and it lasts longer for about the same cost in sorcery points.
Along side all of this, you get to be a creepy shadow mage. What’s not to love about that? Find some shadows and broooooood.
Divine Soul
Divine Soul Sorcerers really kick Sorcerers into high gear. While the other subclasses are good, this one is the start of Sorcerers being great. It also highlights what Sorcerers need more than anything else: more spells known.
Divine Soul lets you expand your spell selection. You get an extra 1st level spell known and you can level that spell up with the Cleric spell list as you go. Your sorcerer can pick up Aid or Spirit Guardians or the like, which really changes the way they play the game. Honestly the rest of the subclass almost doesn’t matter–and even though they’re a little lackluster in terms of features, it’s still one of the top five.
Aberrant Mind
Tasha’s Cauldron shows how D&D is changing. And nowhere is the growth curve as apparent as it is in the Sorcerer subclasses. Introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, the Aberrant Mind is one of the top two Sorcerer subclasses. And again, the best thing about it is that it gets about twice the number of spells that any other Sorcerer (except Clockwork Soul) would have.
The biggest thing about this is you get ten extra spells known. It’s like Domain Spells for Clerics, but you can instead swap them out as you level up. And you can pick a divination or enchantment spell from the Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard lists as you do. This really opens up not just the list of options you have to pick from but your total spell repertoire.
And that would be enough to put it head and shoulders above the others. Except you also get some pretty cool abilities. Like Psionic Sorcery, which lets you cast spells with the power of your mind (Sorcery Points), without needing to spend components ever. Making those spells immune to countering, and cheap if they require expensive components.
Clockwork Soul
The Clockwork Soul is the other Sorcerer sitting at the top of the tree. And much like the Aberrant Mind Sorcerer, it’s all down to the fact that it gets ten extra spells. Except the list is limited to abjuration or transmutation spells from the Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard list. You get Aid, Wall of Force, Summon Construct–some of the best spells for their level out there.
But then on top of that, you get features that you’ll use way more often. You gain the ability to cancel advantage or disadvantage, which you can use offensively against your enemies or defensively to help your friends (or you).
And at 6th level, you can start to reduce damage that comes in for Sorcery points. With the right spells and features, you can out-tank your Fighter in terms of hit point damage. Again though, all that really matters are the spells here.
What are your picks for the best D&D Sorcerer Subclass? Let us know in the comments!
