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Discover the best Sorcerer subclasses in Baldur’s Gate 3 ranked from best to worst, including the upcoming Shadow Magic subclass.
Sorcerers possess innate magical abilities and manipulate their magic with a class mechanic metamagic. Using metamagic, Sorcerers can add additional range, cast multiple times in a turn, and provide incredible versatility when it comes to spell casting. While their spell book is limited compared to a Wizard, the burst potential is high. Depending on your party composition, you want to assign other companions or players to heal, tank, play in melee, and buff. Your goal is to do what the Sorcerer excels at, lobbing multiple fireballs or similar massive area spells and wiping out groups.
In this guide, we will be ranking Sorcerer subclasses in Baldur’s Gate 3 from best to worst, and tell you how the upcoming Shadow Magic subclass will play out for the Sorcerer class.
What are Sorcerer subclasses in BG3? Explained
Sorcerer currently has three subclasses, Wild Magic, Draconic Bloodline, and Storm Sorcery. Each subclass grants access to new features during level progress, allowing players to experience a new playstyle with Sorcerer and choose a certain playstyle for their build.
Here are all Sorcerer subclasses in Baldur’s Gate 3:
- Wild Magic: An unpredictable subclass with wild surges of power and spell casting.
- Storm Sorcery: Control the weather, create powerful storms, fly, and deal lightning/thunder damage with spells.
- Draconic Bloodline: Descendants from dragons, gain breath weapon and mage armor bonus, resistance to damage, and the ability to add their Charisma modifier to their AC.
- Shadow Magic: The deadliest subclass in the Darkness. Allows you to teleport from a dim light/darkness to another dim light/darkness up to 120ft away. Call a Hound of Ill Omen which is like a shadow wolf that can attack enemies during combat.
Sorcerer Metamagic in BG3 – Explained
Before we rank the subclasses and explain their roles and features, it is best that you learn about Sorcerer Metamagic. Sorcerer Metamagic is a unique and powerful feature that sets sorcerers apart from other spellcasting classes in Baldur’s Gate 3. It allows Sorcerers to manipulate and enhance their spells in various ways, granting them incredible flexibility and versatility in their spell casting.
Here is a list of all the metamagic options in Baldur’s Gate 3:
- Careful Spell: Allows Sorcerers to prevent harmful Spell effects affecting their allies.
- Distant Spell: Increases the range of the spell by 50%.
- Extended Spell: Double the duration of Conditions, summons, and surfaces caused by spells.
- Heightened Spell: Targets of spells that require Saving Throws have Disadvantage on their first Saving Throw.
- Quicken Spell: Spells that take an Action take a Bonus Action instead.
- Subtle Spell: You can cast spells while Silenced Silenced.
- Twinned Spell: Spells that only target 1 creature can target an additional creature.
The Best Metamagic options are Quickened, Twinned, and Careful spells. Quickened is useful because you can cast two spells in one turn with an action and a bonus action. Twinned can cast two powerful single target abilities like Disintegrate, Blight, or Chromatic Orb. Twinned only consumes one spell slot as well. Lastly, careful spell prevents allies from being damaged with area-based spells like Fireball or Ice Storm. You can combine Twinned and Quickened in the same turn to get cast a double single target spell and immediately follow it up with another spell.
Below, we have ranked the Sorcerer Subclasses in Baldur’s Gate 3 from the best to worst order. Each corresponding section explains the role of the subclass and its progression.
Best Sorcerer Subclasses in BG3, Ranked
1. Draconic Bloodline
Draconic Bloodline is the best subclass for the Sorcerer because you gain access to Draconic Resilience, Draconic armour class, and Draconic Ancestor. This allows you to focus on a specific elemental magic type and also have higher survivability. Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer leans into fire damage with high survivability. It also maintains metamagic allowing you to cast multiple spells in one turn. This class and playstyle is all about big area damage and does it better than anyone.
Draconic Subclass Features
The Draconic Bloodline subclass offers the following features and spells while leveling up.
- Draconic Resilience Hit Points (Level 1): Your Hit Point maximum increases by 1 for each Sorcerer level.
- Draconic Resilience Armour Class (Level 1): Dragon-like scales cover parts of your skin. When you are not wearing armor, your Base Armour Class increases by 13.
- Dragon Ancestry (Level 1): Choose a Draconic Ancestry to gain a respective damage type associated with your dragon ancestor. Moreover, the selected Dragon Ancestory will grant you a corresponding spell.
- Recommendation: We recommend you select the Red Draconic Ancestry for Fire damage and gain the Burning Hands spell. At Level 6, spells that deal with Fire damage are more powerful, and you can become resistant to Fire Damage.
- Elemental Affinity Damage (Level 6): When you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry, you add your Charisma Modifier to the damage.
- Elemental Affinity Resistance (Level 6): When you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry, you can spend 1 Sorcery point to gain Resistance to that damage type.
- Fly (Level 11): You can now fly at will using your movement speed.
2. Storm Sorcery
The Storm Sorcery subclass in Baldur’s Gate 3 can produce massive area-based damage using predominately Lighting Spells. With the subclass for Storm Sorcery and emphasis on lighting damage, you will have power over the elements and resistances! We will focus more on offensive area damage and lack some defensive, utility, and healing. Rely on companions for this with your main goal to nuke down entire groups turn one.
Storm Sorcery makes a great damage dealer at range. With the Draconic Ancestry of Blue Lighting, you will get an extra spell Witch Bolt. This subclass makes great use of bonus action with metamagic early in the game and can cast two single target abilities in the same turn at level 2. Consider this class and subclass one of the highest burst damage in the game.
Storm Sorcery Subclass Features
The Storm Sorcery subclass offers the following features and spells while leveling up.
- Tempestuous Magic (Level 1): After you cast a Level 1 spell or higher you can Fly as a bonus action until the end of your turn without receiving Opportunity Attacks.
- Heart of the Storm (Level 6): When you cast a spell of Level 1 or higher that deals Lightning or Thunder damage, you cause a small, local storm. All enemies within 6m take 3 Lightning damage or 3 Thunder damage.
- Heart of the Storm Resistance (Level 6): You are resistant to Lightning and Thunder damage.
- Storm Spells (Level 6): You will also gain the following additional spells.
- Call Lightning: Call lightning down on all the targets within its range dealing 3d10 Lightning damage. Moreover, you can continue to call down lightning for 10 turns without expending a spell slot.
- Sleet Storm: Cast a spell to call forth a storm that douses fire, creates an Ice surface, and forces spellcasters to maintain Concentration by succeeding in it.
- Gust of Wind:Summon a strong wind to clear out any dangerous gasses and throw back any enemies in its range by 5m. Moreover, it can potentially throw enemies off heights.
- Create or Destroy Water:Call down rain or destroy an area of water or water-like surfaces.
- Thunderwave: Release a strong thunderous force to hit multiple targets and objects in its path. It can potentially push back enemies and objects from the caster.
- Storm’s Fury (Level 11): When you are hit by a melee attack, you deal 11 Lightning Damage to the attacker and potentially push them away.
3. Wild Magic
Wild Magic is a subclass of Sorcerer that favors randomness and added fun with wild magic that can change the effect of your spells. Furthermore, the Wild Magic subclass also helps with any damage element so you’re free to experiment with your favorite spells.
Wild Magic is an unpredictable subclass for the Sorcerer because you gain access to Tides of Chaos, and Wild Magic features. This allows you to gain an advantage on one attack roll, ability check or saving throw, and focus on all elemental magic types. Wild Magic also gives you a random effect which was described above. We recommend this subclass for someone looking for a chaotic and random gameplay experience.
Wild Magic Effects
Casting a level 1 spell or greater or higher has a chance for a random proc in addition to the spell. This could be either good or bad depending. This adds a unique wildness and randomness to the build and subclass. You will receive a Wild Magic user interface pop-up describing the effect.
Here is all of the possible list of Wild Magic effects in Baldur’s Gate 3:
- Summon a hostile Memphis.
- Cast a spell or cantrip, and exchange positions with a designated target.
- Until the conclusion of your turn, you have the option to teleport up to 9 meters using a Bonus Action.
- Generate a thick fog cloud centered on your location with blindness and obscurement.
- Every creature within 9 meters becomes blurred.
- Your spells of 1st level and higher restore 1d4 hit points per Spell Slot level to all creatures within a 3-meter radius.
- Everyone around the caster in 5m is on fire.
- Infuse your weapon with an additional 1d4 Force Damage and always critical hit on a successful strike.
- Creates water puddles around the caster.
- Transform the ground within a 6-meter radius into a bed of thorns.
- Bestow the Enlarge/Reduce spell upon all individuals in the nearby area.
Wild Magic Subclass Features
Moreover, the Wild Magic subclass offers the following features and spells while levelling up.
- Wild Magic (Level 1): Wild Magic stems from the forces of chaos. It churns within the sorcerers that wield it, waiting to burst free. Each time you cast a spell of level 1 or higher, your magic might surge and trigger a random magical effect.
- Tides of Chaos (Level 1): Activate to gain Advantage on your next Attack Roll, Ability Check, or Saving Throw. Increased chance of Wild Magic surge afterward.
- Bend Luck (Level 6): Spend 2 Sorcery Points as a free action to give a target a 1d4 bonus or a 1d4 penalty to all Ability Checks for two turns, or spend 2 Sorcery Points as a reaction to give a target a 1d4 bonus or a 1d4 penalty on a single Attack Roll or Saving Throw.
- Controlled Chaos (Level 11): When an enemy casts a spell, spend your reaction to cause a Wild Magic Surge near the enemy spellcaster. This Wild Magic Surge is more likely to be negative.
Patch 8 New Sorcerer Subclass – Shadow Magic
The Shadow Magic will be really good for positioning as it will allow you to teleport from dim light to another dim light or darkness up to 120ft away (Shadow Walk). It is an interesting subclass and can call a Hound of Ill Omen which is like a shadow wolf that can attack enemies during combat.
NOTE: The actual features of Shadow Magic and its expanded spells are unknown at this point. The explanation below is a general playstyle of a Shadow Magic Sorcerer.
As a Shadow Magic Sorcerer, you deal in a form of magic that makes you deadliest in darkness. This subclass gives its sorcerer Superior Darkvision, as well as the ability to Shadow Walk between places of dim light or darkness. It also lets you call forth the perfectly homebrewed Hound of Ill Omen to harass your foes, and use Strength of the Grave to prevent you from being downed – ideal for those attempting Honour Mode runs.
FAQs about Sorcerer Subclasses in BG3
1. Question: How many Sorcerer subclasses are there in BG3?
Answer: There are currently three subclasses of Sorcerer in Baldur’s Gate 3. It includes Wild Magic, Draconic Bloodline, and Storm Sorcery. Moreover, the Shadow Magic is the upcoming subclass of Sorcerer which will be added with Patch 8. It is expected to come in early 2025.
2. Question: Which is the strongest Sorcerer subclass in BG3?
Answer: Draconic Bloodline is the strongest subclass of Sorcerer. They are descendants of dragons, gain breath weapon and mage armor bonus, resistance to damage, and the ability to add their Charisma modifier to their AC.
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