D&D 5E (2024) 2nd level casters are disappoint

[Zardnaar]

At level 2? You’ve got 2 sorcery points…

Twin spell. 3 slot. Essentially you get a free upcast on 2 of them.

In effect youre getting a 66% boost.

Level 3+ you can twin or another other 1 point metamagic on all your highest level slots. Acid fireballs, reroll to hit, rerool 4 or 5 dice of damage etc.

Its sexy as well.

Wizards usually get a mediocre/limited ability level 3 and 6. Or it takes a while to scale up.

Savant twice per day dice rolls situational vs heighten spell on everything you cast (except maybe lvl 1s)

 

[Koloth]

Wizards these days are so demanding. In 1e, a new 2nd level wizard got:
1 First lvl spell slot.
1 First lvl spell to add to spell book(nice GMs let you pick, otherwise random roll.)
1 d4 worth of HP.

 

[Zardnaar]

Wizards these days are so demanding. In 1e, a new 2nd level wizard got:
1 First lvl spell slot.
1 First lvl spell to add to spell book(nice GMs let you pick, otherwise random roll.)
1 d4 worth of HP.

Damage was a lot lower. That d4 in effect is better thsn tm5E d6.

 

[FrogReaver]

And you only have 3 spellslots, so you can use metamagic on most of your spells.

It's level 2, resources are rather limited for everyone so I don't know what you're expecting here

While true, it doesn’t make the level 2 sorcerer good. Maybe better than the wizard, but not good.

 

[Zardnaar]

While true, it doesn’t make the level 2 sorcerer good. Maybe better than the wizard, but not good.

Warlocks number 1 imho then cleric/druids. Sorcerer next wizard in last place.

And I forgot bards. They exist.

 

[Horwath]

moving all subclasses to 3rd level just reinforced the idea that 1st and 2nd level just needs to be skipped, even for new players.

 

[Ashrym]

In 5.0, 2nd level is when most full casters get their subclass feature.
It's a big boost, easily making up for the piddly increase in casting power (one 1st level slot).
Then at 3rd level they get another 1st level slot but more importantly their first two 2nd level slots.
With nothing else, no additional features, those level boosts are fair and balanced.

In 5.24, the subclass gets delayed to 3rd level, but the casting progression stays the same.
2nd level is much less valuable, especially for Wizard. One new skill bump, big whoop.
I understand why delaying the subclass is good for game balance, but as a player I hate having dead levels.

At minimum, 2024 full casters should get both additional 1st level slots (4 total) at 2nd level.
This balances things a little bit for that one level, and leaves the rest of the game the same.

The OP made a claim about spell casters and then based it on an incomplete reference to what wizards gain at 2nd level.

Bards gain Expertise, Jack of all Trades, an extra spell prepared, and an extra spell slot. That doesn't seem like much but it is a bonus to many skill checks and 3 1st-level spell slots over 2 is a 50% increase in spells. This is one of the least exciting classes when it comes to second level but to be fair bards to add bonuses to a lot of skill checks at this level, which is not a limited resource like spell slots and something I like about the class.

Clerics gain the same additional spell prepared and spell slot plus Channel Divinity.

Druids gain the same additional spell prepared and spell slot plus Wild Shape and Wild Companion.

Sorcerers gain the same additional spell prepared and spell slot plus Meta Magic and Font of Magic.

Wizards gain the same additional spell prepared and spell slot plus 2 more spells in their spell book and Scholar. This also doesn't seem like much but using the additional spells for an additional ritual is useful. Pointing to the wizard is not representative of all casters.

Warlocks don't fit the same spell progression but they are full casters as demonstrated by the speed with which they access higher level spells. They gain a prepared spell, a pact slot (which is significant because of the short rest recovery), Magical Cunning for an additional slot per day, and triple the number of invocations from 1 to 3 for a solid benefit.

Most spell casters gain or focus on abilities that are iconic to the class at 2nd level so it's hard to see that as a bad thing, and the first two levels typically are either skipped or go by so fast it wouldn't really matter much even if those classes weren't gaining much at 2nd level.

 

[FrogReaver]

The OP made a claim about spell casters and then based it on an incomplete reference to what wizards gain at 2nd level.

Bards gain Expertise, Jack of all Trades, an extra spell prepared, and an extra spell slot. That doesn't seem like much but it is a bonus to many skill checks and 3 1st-level spell slots over 2 is a 50% increase in spells. This is one of the least exciting classes when it comes to second level but to be fair bards to add bonuses to a lot of skill checks at this level, which is not a limited resource like spell slots and something I like about the class.

Clerics gain the same additional spell prepared and spell slot plus Channel Divinity.

Druids gain the same additional spell prepared and spell slot plus Wild Shape and Wild Companion.

Sorcerers gain the same additional spell prepared and spell slot plus Meta Magic and Font of Magic.

Wizards gain the same additional spell prepared and spell slot plus 2 more spells in their spell book and Scholar. This also doesn't seem like much but using the additional spells for an additional ritual is useful. Pointing to the wizard is not representative of all casters.

Warlocks don't fit the same spell progression but they are full casters as demonstrated by the speed with which they access higher level spells. They gain a prepared spell, a pact slot (which is significant because of the short rest recovery), Magical Cunning for an additional slot per day, and triple the number of invocations from 1 to 3 for a solid benefit.

Most spell casters gain or focus on abilities that are iconic to the class at 2nd level so it's hard to see that as a bad thing, and the first two levels typically are either skipped or go by so fast it wouldn't really matter much even if those classes weren't gaining much at 2nd level.

IMO. The bigger picture is that most casters (excluding some warlocks) are way behind at level 1 as well. So them getting more stuff than you may realize at level 2 doesn't solve the issue, unless it's enough stuff at level 2 to level the playing field. But it generally isn't.

IMO, there is a huge power difference in the top 2-3 spells for level 2 and everything else. For me those spells are Entangle and Goodberry. If your caster gets those spells and especially medium armor and shields then you are going to be on par with the best level 2 martials. If not then it's a tough road.