D&D 5E 5e Sorcerer versus Wizard, which is better?

[Lucas Yew]

I'm not sure what you are saying. Are you trying to say a wizard should be able to have less spells prepared each day and a sorcerer should have more? There would be no reason to take a wizard than, ever.

First, prepared casters in general can change their entire spellcasting capability every single day, which is an insanely strong capability by itself. And in case of Wizards they can choose from 44 spells at the very least from their level-up, not even mentioning Clerics and Druids. A single Wizard can function as almost 3 entirely different character on a daily basis, even with my proposed rule patch. That's strong enough, even post-(supposed)-nerf.

Second, as a contrary to the first point, the Sorcerer especially has an absurdly small number of spells known (15 max, seriously? Even the Bard has a whopping 22). As metamagic is no longer the godly presence it was in 3.XE, it would never make up for this impossible design decision; seriously, does someone in the 5E dev team decide to benchmark Skip Williams with his supposed hatred of Sorcerers? Actually, I find it painful that one early Unearthed Arcana (Favored Soul) almost fixed this by trying to give them at least low level (1~5th, 2 per spell level) fixed spells, then mess it up by ditching it in the final version in SCAG (as far as I know of the book).

 

[Mistwell]

No.

"The target" is used throughout I'll omen to refer to the one you targeted with the hound.

The same language applies to the disad... " the targrt has disadvantage... " not "all targets within 5'"

Doh!

Can you tell I am not familiar with the Shadow Sorc?

 

[Guest 6801328]

No.

"The target" is used throughout I'll omen to refer to the one you targeted with the hound.

The same language applies to the disad... " the targrt has disadvantage... " not "all targets within 5'"

Curse you, Jeremy and Mike, for all the precise language and in 5e.

 

[gyor]

I just have one question...

As I read it, if the enemy is within 120 feet and has an open spot next to him, I can summon the hound to that spot as my bonus action. That spot is "within 30 feet of the target".

Now, at that moment, since the hound is within 5' that target has disad on saves agsinst me.

So my dominate or blight or whatever goes against thst disadvantaged save.

Right?

I mean, sure, if there is no space open next to the target or it has some deadly aura thst fried everything instantly- then I might not be in a place to use it.

But barring it just not being possible to get to 5' on creation, it seems like I can bonus action and spell all on my turn and they save with disad.

What am I missing?

Are you reading the 30' as 30' from the sorcerer?

Your missing nothing, you nailed it.

 

[gyor]

Yes I think you are right and I think I misread it until you just pointed that out. Seems like the Wizard need only be in 120' of the target. Should work as you describe. My bad. So you can spend 3 sorcery points to apply disadvantage on the next save the target makes (which should be right away, after your bonus action use). It's a decent use of your sorcery points, though you will blow through them pretty quick if that's your primary use of those points. Good for those spells you really need the target to miss their save on, like portent. Though potentially you'll have more uses than portent gives you.

Sorcerer, not Wizard.

 

[5ekyu]

Doh!

Can you tell I am not familiar with the Shadow Sorc?

So you would answer this question "no"?

"But let me ask it another way, have you played a shadow sorcerer at higher levels?"

 

[Mistwell]

So you would answer this question "no"?

"But let me ask it another way, have you played a shadow sorcerer at higher levels?"

Yes I would answer my own question with no. It's why I asked...I wanted to know if actual experience proved different. As in, I didn't know the answer, having none of that actual experience.

 

[Esker]

Also, it can't close with opponents that require flight or other special movement modes even if it's not killed. Which occurs more frequently at high levels. I guess you could summon it next to a low-flying opponent to get off a spell, but then it will fall. Does save needing the Heighten Spell metamagic, same SP cost.

Yup. I played a 9th level Shadow Sorc in a one-shot awhile back. Saved up sorcery points for the boss fight, expecting to use my hound. But then the boss turned out to be a dragon. The hound was completely useless. Not to mention so was my one 5th level spell which I'd saved up too (Hold Monster, natch), as I'd focused on control spells with saves, and then... legendary resistance. It was very nearly a TPK.

If I'd been playing a wizard, I'dve at least had a wall of force that I could've used to trap the dragon for awhile while we healed up and buffed. And in general a much wider array of options to choose from.

 

[Esker]

One option I've not heard mentioned: Warwizard is a good middle of the road pick. Going first is important for a wizard. The extra defense and saves as needed are amazing. A little extra damage is always nice. Variant Human with alert is very nice for this setup.

Interesting points...

If you don't want to specialize as much and just want a solid wizard that does a bit of everything, consider War Magic. It's one of those subclasses that is described in a way that doesn't really fit with what it's good for: Ignore Power Surge; it's crappy, but Tactical Wit, Durable Magic, and Arcane Deflection are mechanically really strong (not as much fun as Portent, but...). It's basically a free Alert feat that stacks with the Alert feat, a free Shield that stacks with Shield proficiency, and a free pseudo-Resilient CON that stacks with CON save proficiency.

 

[gyor]

Yup. I played a 9th level Shadow Sorc in a one-shot awhile back. Saved up sorcery points for the boss fight, expecting to use my hound. But then the boss turned out to be a dragon. The hound was completely useless. Not to mention so was my one 5th level spell which I'd saved up too (Hold Monster, natch), as I'd focused on control spells with saves, and then... legendary resistance. It was very nearly a TPK.

If I'd been playing a wizard, I'dve at least had a wall of force that I could've used to trap the dragon for awhile while we healed up and buffed. And in general a much wider array of options to choose from.

Even a Sorcerer should never put all their eggs in one basket.