D&D 5E (2014) Who's the Best Arcanist (According to You)

[THEMNGMNT]

Arcane Archer FTW!

 

[Micah Sweet]

Somewhat to my chagrin, the Wizard.

Not because I don't think the Wizard should be that. They absolutely should. It's literally their specialty.

Rather, because the Wizard is incredibly awful at actually supporting the FLAVOR of the class. It doesn't have a single research- or academia-related class feature. It doesn't have anything special with regard to skill or study. Literally the one and only thing it gets which isn't "Cast More Spells" is halving the gold/time costs of copying spells. Not researching--copying. The Wizard is an extremely excellent plagiarist, without a single bit of research-related content. I find this absolutely appalling. It's not like I'm asking for ultra-specialization or something really narrow and specific. This is literally the foundational concept of the class, "person who does academic research to learn spells"!

The Level Up wizard is much more flavorful in its academic roots.

 

[jgsugden]

After playing Wizard, Sorcerer is pretty miserable. Sorcery Points are too few, and there's just levels when they don't get any new spells, while Wizards are always getting at least two, and can copy a lot more. Known spells just seem like worse than prepared spells in every way as well.

I have a very different relationship with my wizards and sorcerers.

It is always a struggle to pick sorcerer spells, but at the end of the day I rarely feel like I do not have a good option to cast, and even for the sorcerer I end up with spells that do not even get cast once during a level. Honestly, the pinch I feel in available spells for wizards and sorcerers is usually about the same because what I wish I had at a given time that I do not have is usually so conditional that wizard had no more room for it than the sorcerer did. To that end, it is the capability of the metamagic to 'supercharge' spells that really sets the Sorcerer apart.

With the inclusion of the Aberrant Mind and Clockwork sorcerers, there are sorcerer options that end up knowing far more spells than a similar leveled wizard will have prepared. Only certain clerics (and land druids) have more spells available to cast.

I know that wizards get rituals for more flexibility ... but sorcerers get 1 (or 2) more cantrips.

When the sorcerer can counterspell from over 100 feet away, or give disadvantage to that one spell that has to get through... it just makes the sorcerer so much more effective.