D&D 5E How Is This Balanced?

[Zardnaar]

It doesn’t help yet, but next level (at 9th) the sorcerer can pick up Animate Objects. That spell is a dramatic change in overall combat power for any class that can cast it, when used on ten tiny objects (a bag of daggers works great). A sorcerer can cast it quite a few times per day by converting lower-level slots to additional 5th-level slots via sorcery points.

Polymorph (turn allies into giant apes and t-rexes) and Counterspell are other significant spells the sorcerer has access to that the clerics don’t. Plus things like twinned Haste that you already mentioned.

There’s also the Transmuted Spell metamagic from Tasha’s that would let the sorcerer convert fireballs to acid-balls or other elements that are uncommonly resisted.

Sorcerers do feel like they’re in a tough spot, and picking blaster spells (except fireball) can feel underwhelming. 5e is generally good at avoiding “trap” choices when building a character, but sorcerer is probably closest because it’s so dependent on spell choice, and picking the right spells takes experience.

There are some great spells that last all combat (web, haste, polymorph, greater invis, animate objects), and those plus fireballs and cantrips can add up to a pretty good package. Outside of combat... the sorcerer spell list is decent, but you have so few spells known that it’s hard to have interesting options available for a variety of situations. The Magical Guidance feature from Tasha’s can help sorcerers somewhat with skills.

Lightning seems viable but lacks a ranged cantrip.

 

[tetrasodium]

Lightning seems viable but lacks a ranged cantrip.

It lacks a lot more than that & that's a great example of why so many pick nothing but dire spells. Even if someone wants to pick orgeron spells ie can be tough

Spells for Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Fifth Edition (5e) - D&D Beyond

Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) Fifth Edition (5e) Spells. A comprehensive list of all official spells for Fifth Edition.

www.dndbeyond.com

Cantrip Lightning lure
First Chromatic orb, chaos bolt, witch bolt, absorb elements
Second dragon breath
Third lightning bolt
4th storm sphere
Fifth -
Sixth chain lightning
Seventh prismatic sprray.

Its being generous to include a lot of those on the list and prismatic spray is just a random chance to maybe deal damage. Having different area types is a boon yes, but they need to be options not mandates imposed because updating spells is a terrible option usually still bearing scaling from when it was tied to caster level and free without needing higher slots rather than something that makes already poor showing damage spells even worse cost/benefit as an option

 

[Zardnaar]

It lacks a lot more than that & that's a great example of why so many pick nothing but dire spells. Even if someone wants to pick orgeron spells ie can be tough

Spells for Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Fifth Edition (5e) - D&D Beyond

Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) Fifth Edition (5e) Spells. A comprehensive list of all official spells for Fifth Edition.

www.dndbeyond.com

Cantrip Lightning lure
First Chromatic orb, chaos bolt, witch bolt, absorb elements
Second dragon breath
Third lightning bolt
4th storm sphere
Fifth -
Sixth chain lightning
Seventh prismatic sprray.

Its being generous to include a lot of those on the list and prismatic spray is just a random chance to maybe deal damage. Having different area types is a boon yes, but they need to be options not mandates imposed because updating spells is a terrible option usually still bearing scaling from when it was tied to caster level and free without needing higher slots rather than something that makes already poor showing damage spells even worse cost/benefit as an option

One can just upcast lightning bolt.

It's already tuned higher than most damage dealing spells.

The other elements don't get a fireball or lb to play with although cold has a large variety of meh spells.

Not fire has its appeal.

 

[RealAlHazred]

If you're going the alternate-elements route, there's not a lot of good spell selection in the base game for non-fire specialists. There are good homebrew options (I recommend KibblesTasty's Generic Elemental Spells). I would probably favor something a little more thematic to the "fire" part of being a "fire sorcerer." You could do that with Transmuted Spell, which at least keeps the rest of the flavor of fire spells, just changing the damage type. But in my games, I'd probably make a book, Ignus' Precepts of the Flame, which chronicles the researches of a fire sorcerer who wrestled with the same issue and decided to harness Hellfire. Then I'd include a few spells that do necrotic as well as fire damage, and maybe allow the fire sorcerer to learn a brand new metamagic which lets them convert half the damage of their spells to necrotic damage or something. I'd make it a roleplaying element, and include some story elements they can interact with, maybe -- an old lair of Ignus' or maybe an encounter with the devil that killed him, etc.

EDIT: Alternatively, you could go the other route, and make the old researcher a Hellrider wizard (all sorts went on the crusade), and make the metamagic do half celestial damage and half fire.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

If you're going the alternate-elements route, there's not a lot of good spell selection in the base game for non-fire specialists. There are good homebrew options (I recommend KibblesTasty's Generic Elemental Spells). I would probably favor something a little more thematic to the "fire" part of being a "fire sorcerer." You could do that with Transmuted Spell, which at least keeps the rest of the flavor of fire spells, just changing the damage type. But in my games, I'd probably make a book, Ignus' Precepts of the Flame, which chronicles the researches of a fire sorcerer who wrestled with the same issue and decided to harness Hellfire. Then I'd include a few spells that do necrotic as well as fire damage, and maybe allow the fire sorcerer to learn a brand new metamagic which lets them convert half the damage of their spells to necrotic damage or something. I'd make it a roleplaying element, and include some story elements they can interact with, maybe -- an old lair of Ignus' or maybe an encounter with the devil that killed him, etc.

EDIT: Alternatively, you could go the other route, and make the old researcher a Hellrider wizard (all sorts went on the crusade), and make the metamagic do half celestial damage and half fire.

How many different "do x lightning damage" spells do you need?

Please diversify your spell list. Only using one element seems like a setup for failure anyway. You don't have that many known spells, so just chose a few signature spells and be useful with the rest.

Lightning bolt is all you really need for quite a while. It is just sad, that it lost the ability to be forked (half length, double width).

 

[RealAlHazred]

How many different "do x lightning damage" spells do you need?

That was KibblesTasty's main thrust for designing new elemental spells, to give them more flavor than "it's a lightningball, it's like a fireball but it does lightning damage!"

 

[Zardnaar]

For lighting you really only need chromatic orb,maybe dragon's breath and lightning bolt. And a ranged cantrip.

 

[Dausuul]

The problem with sorcerers is they are billed as the "easy caster class," but they are in fact very tricky to build right and unforgiving if you screw up. With a tiny selection of spells known, picked from an equally tiny list, you have to choose each spell with painstaking care and make sure to cover as many bases as possible. And the worst thing you can do is try to stick to a theme (e.g., "fire damage"). You simply do not have the picks to devote multiple spells to doing the same or similar jobs.

Warlocks are a much better on-ramp to spellcasting. As long as you know to get eldritch blast and Agonizing Blast, and probably hex, you're going to do okay. Your PC may not rock the house, but they won't completely suck.

 

[auburn2]

The problem with sorcerers is they are billed as the "easy caster class," but they are in fact very tricky to build right and unforgiving if you screw up. With a tiny selection of spells known, picked from an equally tiny list, you have to choose each spell with painstaking care and make sure to cover as many bases as possible. And the worst thing you can do is try to stick to a theme (e.g., "fire damage"). You simply do not have the picks to devote multiple spells to doing the same or similar jobs.

Warlocks are a much better on-ramp to spellcasting. As long as you know to get eldritch blast and Agonizing Blast, and probably hex, you're going to do okay. Your PC may not rock the house, but they won't completely suck.

I think wizards are the easiest and best spell casting class. They get the most spells (even before finding scrolls and enemy spellbooks), they get the best spells, and there are numerous good spell options. Even if you completely botch your selections you can add 2 more next level to make up for it.

They have over twice as many spells in their book as warlocks know at all levels and over twice as many as sorcerers after 1st level (again even if they they find no more). With a 16+ intelligence they can prepare more spells than warlocks or sorcerers know, at high levels a lot more.

They don't have sorcery points or evocations to worry about. They have ritual casting without the spell being prepared, meaning you can have your combat spells and utility spells both - they don't have to leave behind things like detect magic or comprehend languages because they are getting up in levels and have to know or prepare better spells.

 

[Horwath]

My solution for fire sorcerer is buffing up Elemental adept feat:
+1 int, wis or cha
pick a damage type from acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder.
you ignore resistance from that type of damage and treat immunity as resistance.
deal +1 damage per damage die for that element.

This puts the feat at power level of Tasha's feats and "master" feats from PHB