D&D 5E Designer apathy and sunk costs, The reason the sorcerer is doomed to uncanny valley one-trick-ponieness.

[Minigiant]

One hundred ways to fry a Kobold is not the versatility I'm looking for. You knnow something about not blasting would be nice...

Yeah but that was the Sorcerer's main strength even back in 3rd edition.
The strength of the sorcerer in 3rd was that no slots went to waste. You could always turned a slot into an attack or defense if needed. You could technically pick utility spells but sorcerer had so few spells known that you ended up taking only the general one and rarely did a sane sorcerer take many niche utility spells.

The sorcerer was always the best general blaster. The best way to play it (if you DM didn't allow crazy powergaming or held back on magic items) was to take mostly attack and defense spells and a few of the most general utility and noncombat spells like fog cloud and charm person. The generalist sorcerer was kinda weak in 3e. My group had one and she died because she couldn't kill an assassin fast enough.

The main issue to seem to be having is that you want to play a sorcerer that doesn't play to its traditional strengths. There's nothing wrong with playing against type but I wouldn't expect support.

Now I did like the playtest sorcerer but I knew it wouldn't fly. 5th edition wanted to have traditional feel so having sorcerers transform into melee warriors was against type. It could have been their 4th subclass (after the raw mage).

 

[MoonSong]

Yeah but that was the Sorcerer's main strength even back in 3rd edition.
The strength of the sorcerer in 3rd was that no slots went to waste. You could always turned a slot into an attack or defense if needed. You could technically pick utility spells but sorcerer had so few spells known that you ended up taking only the general one and rarely did a sane sorcerer take many niche utility spells.

The sorcerer was always the best general blaster. The best way to play it (if you DM didn't allow crazy powergaming or held back on magic items) was to take mostly attack and defense spells and a few of the most general utility and noncombat spells like fog cloud and charm person. The generalist sorcerer was kinda weak in 3e. My group had one and she died because she couldn't kill an assassin fast enough.

The main issue to seem to be having is that you want to play a sorcerer that doesn't play to its traditional strengths. There's nothing wrong with playing against type but I wouldn't expect support.

Now I did like the playtest sorcerer but I knew it wouldn't fly. 5th edition wanted to have traditional feel so having sorcerers transform into melee warriors was against type. It could have been their 4th subclass (after the raw mage).

There are many ways to play a 3e sorcerer, yes super-generalist was the weakest one. But I'm not even asking for it. Magical Thief, Magical Charlatan, Gish, magical explorer, master of illusions, dimensional master, super lazy slacker that never touched the ground... if there was an specific job that could be done with spells sorcerer would do it best, not just blasting. Ok not healing and that, but everything else was good. The permanent nature of spell selection was a good reason to invest in some mundane competence for it to fall back on. The 3e sorcerer is a niche filler that does it well. The 5e sorcerer can barely scratch some niches.

 

[Minigiant]

Also If you want to judge versatility

WIZARD
Abjurers rely on casting abjurations with spell slots to restore their Arcane Ward.
How many shields are you going to cast?

Conhurer
Conjurers only get subclass benefits from summons. outside of Minor Conjuration

Diviners
Diviners... See Abjurers but replace it with abjurations and Portent.

Enchanter
Enchanters don't encourage spamming enchantments until level 10.

Evocations
Not all attack spells are Evocations. Their class features don't affect conjurations and necromancy attack spells.

Illusion
Illusionist is one of the more neutral subclasses

Necromancy
Might as well say "Spam ray of sickness and animate dead"

Transmutation
Transmuters are neutral as well.

So a wizard is as limited in spell freedom as a sorcerer is unless you choose illusion or transmuter. And they don't get metamagic to make up for it.

 

[Hussar]

I dunno. Our sorc in our 5e game is easily the highest total damage character. Even only counting area effects once instead of several targets, he's just a hair in second place. If I counted total hp damage it wouldn't even be a close race. He's miles ahead of any single character and would likely be in the ballpark for the group combined.

How in the world do you play a dragon sorc and not do gobs of damage,

 

[Eric V]

Precisely; as a Sorcerer player, the OP does not reflect my experience or the reported experience of most feedback, apparently. If there is nothing wrong with the Sorcerer as is, why should the developers "admit" otherwise?

As a sorcerer player, the OP captured my experience perfectly. With limited spell choice, and the only really neat thing recharging after a long rest, the sorcerer's mechanics are boring.

 

[Minigiant]

There are many ways to play a 3e sorcerer, yes super-generalist was the weakest one. But I'm not even asking for it. Magical Thief, Magical Charlatan, Gish, magical explorer, master of illusions, dimensional master, super lazy slacker that never touched the ground... if there was an specific job that could be done with spells sorcerer would do it best, not just blasting. Ok not healing and that, but everything else was good. The permanent nature of spell selection was a good reason to invest in some mundane competence for it to fall back on. The 3e sorcerer is a niche filler that does it well. The 5e sorcerer can barely scratch some niches.

You're giving the sorcerer of 3rd more credit than it deserves.

Sorcerers used attack spells or sucked (in a standard game) in 3rd edition. They did not have the the number of spells known to snag too many effects. Most sorcerer took an attack spell of each level of spell. So that's 25-30% of your spells. Add in defense spells and staple spells, sorcerers had few spells left to pick up.

So technically you could pick anything but generally a sorcerer is partly and most blaster. Only 3rd editions broken magic item system with abundant scrolls and wands or being in a heavy damage/SoS/SoD party could a sorcerer opt out of primarily blasting.

With 5e's balance of item frequency and power, sorcerers were doomed to blasting like 4e.

 

[Ovinomancer]

As a sorcerer player, the OP captured my experience perfectly. With limited spell choice, and the only really neat thing recharging after a long rest, the sorcerer's mechanics are boring.

Ooh, I think you hit a nail on the head there, and it sparked a thought -- as a sorcerer, you get only a handful of choices, and you can only make them at level ups. Granted, that's the same (or worse) than a champion fighter, but then they're boring as well.

 

[MoonSong]

You're giving the sorcerer of 3rd more credit than it deserves.

Sorcerers used attack spells or sucked (in a standard game) in 3rd edition. They did not have the the number of spells known to snag too many effects. Most sorcerer took an attack spell of each level of spell. So that's 25-30% of your spells. Add in defense spells and staple spells, sorcerers had few spells left to pick up.

So technically you could pick anything but generally a sorcerer is partly and most blaster. Only 3rd editions broken magic item system with abundant scrolls and wands or being in a heavy damage/SoS/SoD party could a sorcerer opt out of primarily blasting.

With 5e's balance of item frequency and power, sorcerers were doomed to blasting like 4e.

x race Sorcerer 1
Scores

Str 8
Dex 15
Con 10
Int 14
Cha 13
Wis 12

Have an owl familiar
Feat Point Blank shot
Other feat: stealthy


Spells
Cantrips
Ghost sound
message
Mage hand
light
1
Instant Locksmith (Or minor illusion)
Summon monster 1

Cross class skills Hide, move silently, open lock, spot. (disable device if human)

Enough for first level challenges. Hide like crazy when combat happens and shoot your crossbow whenever you can. Or use the summons for combat. You are a magical thief, feel like one and as you gain levels you become better at it. (unseen servant, floating disk, Knock, silence and invisibility await at later levels). Other niches are less skill intensive so are even more doable. Even my gish sorcerer died because it was a senseless sacrifice -what happens when you get a wisdom penalty- not because was squishy. The "you cast combat spells or suck" was never true in 3rd edition.

 

[Minigiant]

x race Sorcerer 1
Scores

Str 8
Dex 15
Con 10
Int 14
Cha 13
Wis 12

Have an owl familiar
Feat Point Blank shot
Other feat: stealthy


Spells
Cantrips
Ghost sound
message
Mage hand
light
1
Instant Locksmith (Or minor illusion)
Summon monster 1

Cross class skills Hide, move silently, open lock, spot. (disable device if human)

Enough for first level challenges. Hide like crazy when combat happens and shoot your crossbow whenever you can. Or use the summons for combat. You are a magical thief, feel like one and as you gain levels you become better at it. (unseen servant, floating disk, Knock, silence and invisibility await at later levels). Other niches are less skill intensive so are even more doable. Even my gish sorcerer died because it was a senseless sacrifice -what happens when you get a wisdom penalty- not because was squishy. The "you cast combat spells or suck" was never true in 3rd edition.

And it's weak. It's Charisma is too low to get into offensive spells ever. Crossbows will get underpowered fast and you'll have to help the party in a fight eventually. Even sneaky rogue could drop a nasty sneak attack.

It's a niche build. If your party can pick up your slack. Fine. If you campaign is low combat. Fine. If your DM hands you a chest of wands of fireballs, magic missile, and lightning bolt. Fine.

But Niche build should not be in the same place as a common one.

 

[Vael]

I think blasting is a part of being an arcane caster. Sorcerers and Wizards do share design space. So I don't mind that Sorcerers have blasting in their DNA, so to speak.

But I take issue with the idea that that's their soul raison d'être. Sorcerers have access to the bulk of the wizard's spells. It's really in the area of ritual magic and specific spells (like lifestyle spells) that wizards have that Sorcerers don't.

But Sorcerers have a lot of good buff spells, Polymorph, Haste, etc. And we can Twin them for better party coverage, and CON save proficiency to keep those spells longer.

Sorcerers have access to all the good illusion and charm spells, and Subtle Spell allows them to sneak them into non-combat situations without being obvious.

Yes, it sucks that the Wizard can generally prepare close to twice the spells that the Sorcerer ever knows, but that means Sorcerers need to pick their focus. And it doesn't have to be blasting.