Everything you need to know about the new sorcerer for D&D 5e 2024 including rules and tactics
Wizards of the Coast have revealed the 2024 revised version of the sorcerer. It’s not a huge reworking of the class (unlike other classes like the monk), but it didn’t need to be either with the 2014 sorcerer working well already. However, you can still expect some solid quality of life improvements to subclasses, including subclass spell lists, increased flexibility, new ways to make magical combos and more ways to empower your spells.
Below I’ve gone through everything that’s changing for the new sorcerer as well as how this might change the way you play and what tactics you can employ.
If you want to see the original reveal, you can check out the video below:
Why are we getting changes to the sorcerer?
Mainly to maintain balance with the other classes that are seeing improved features. The sorcerer’s features do get tuned up a bit with the main approach for the sorcerer to allow them great adaptability in the moment and to remain the go to spellcaster for enhanced spells.
Mainly what we’re seeing in terms of improvements includes:
- New ways to make your spells more powerful
- You’re no longer tied to your cantrips and can change them as you increase in levels
- Earlier metamagic
- You can regain sorcery points more easily
- Subclasses get their own spell lists (which were oddly absent in the 2014 PHB)
- A bunch of other quality of life improvements to subclasses
Below I’ve unpicked exactly what these changes are and how they work.
What changes have been made to the 2024 sorcerer?
Below I’ve outlined everything we know about that’s changing for the 2024 sorcerer:
Spellcasting – lv1
Spellcasting remains largely the same but one small change means that you’re no longer tied to options you pick when creating your character and can change as you grow in experience. You can now change a cantrips known whenever you level up. An important theme for a lot of spellcasting classes as often the tactics you employ at level 1 change at higher levels or as you evolve your play style.
You can also prepare more spells than previously. As many as a cleric or druid in fact (but not as many as a wizard).
Innate sorcery – lv1
A new feature that allows a sorcerer to tune up their spells a bit by using a bonus action. You can then add 1 to your spell DC and gain advantage on spell attacks.
Sorcerers have always been about having more powerful spells than the other arcanists but with limited sorcery points, there was too much of a limit to how much a sorcerer could use enhanced spells. Innate sorcery ensures that you’re more consistently the most powerful Spellcaster.
It seems that there is a limit to the number of times this feature can be used, but it wasn’t entirely clear how this would work in what’s been revealed so far.
Font of magic and metamagic – lv2
These features largely remain the same, but it didn’t make sense to have them occur at different levels as they’re inter-related. Now both features come into play at level 2 (that’s a level earlier than before for metamagic).
You also get 2 additional metamagic options at levels 10 and 17 instead of the previous 1.
The metamagic options have also been revisited and fine tuned (6 out of the 10 options have been updated) including adding in the additional options from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Some of these definitely need this as some options felt considerably less useful than others. The tweaks may even ensure that combining metamagic options will work even better (more on this below).
- Careful spell: Now prevents protected allies from taking any damage on a successful saving throw from AoE spells that cause damage (like fireball). Before, it just meant targets would succeed on the saving throw, but for AoE spells, this just meant half damage. Now that is careful!
- Extended spell: You now get advantage on saving throws to maintain concentration on extended spells.
- Heightened spell: Costs 2 sorcery points now instead of the hefty 3 from before and remains in effect from any subsequent saves the target might make, not just the initial save.
- Seeking spell: Only costs 1 sorcery points now instead of 2.
- Subtle spell: Also let’s you ignore the need for material components too as long as they don’t have a cost and aren’t consumed when the spell is cast.
- Twinned spell: The scope of this has been reduced. You can now only use it on spells that can target an extra creature when it’s upcast with a higher spell slot, but instead you can use a sorcery points to access that extra target even before your level is high enough to do so and by only expending the lower spell slot. This now only costs 1 sorcery points which is much less than it would often cost. But this does sound like a much reduced list of spells that can have this applied which is a shame for my favourite metamagic option!
Sorcerous restoration – lv5
In a similar vein to innate sorcery, you can have more powerful spellcasting more often with more ways to restore sorcery points once you hit level 5.
Sorcery incarnate – lv7
Innate sorcery is enhanced a bit at level 7. You can now restore uses of innate sorcery using sorcery points. On top of this, while innate sorcery is active, you can now use 2 metamagic options simultaneously with a spell. This has huge potential for causing incredible havoc in a single turn.
Imagine sniping enemies with a fireball using distant spell to attack from double the distance while empowering it to cause increased damage. Or how about quickening a spell so you can cast it with a bonus action while twinning it to affect a second target. You can then use dash to leg it out of there using your action. Or for something potentially really devastating, you could twin a chaos bolt while empowering it to boost your chances of landing a double on the damage die and causing it to jump to more enemies.
Of course, we know the metamagic options are being tweaked so some of these options may look different (for better or for worse) than what we see right now.
Epic boon – lv19
Like all classes at lv19, you get an epic boon (kind of like a super feat). This will allow you to increase an ability score (even beyond the normal maximum of 20, allowing you to potentially go up to 30 in an ability score). You’ll also get an ability alongside that feat too.
To make things juicer, when you gain levels beyond lv20, you’ll get an epic boon each time making you even gnarlier (there are 12, presumably 1 geared towards each of the 12 classes, though any class can take any epic boon)!
Unfortunately, the epic boon recommended for the sorcerer wasn’t revealed in this video so we’ll have to wait until September before we find out what that will actually be.
Arcane apotheosis – lv20
The 2014 sorcerer had a very dull capstone feature where you could restore more sorcery points more easily. That’s no longer the case for the 2024 sorcerer (in fact easier restoration of sorcery points now comes at a much earlier level). Not only do you get a wonderfully named feature, you also get a free use of metamagic once per turn when your innate sorcery is active. Basically, this means your spells are always enhanced! And because you can combine 2 metamagic options on the same spell, you can still choose to use sorcery points to enhance your spells further.
Sorcerer 2024 subclasses
Subclasses for the 2024 sorcerer get a big change, coming in at level 3 (like with all 2024 classes now) rather than level 1 as they did previously. The 2014 PHB had 2 sorcerer subclasses in draconic sorcery and wild magic sorcery (note the subclasses get a slight naming change to make them all consistent). These remain in the 2024 PHB with some big improvements. Alongside these are the aberrant sorcery and clockwork sorcery subclasses from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything which basically come across almost unchanged.
One thing Jeremy Crawford notes about the aberrant mind and clockwork soul is that they represent opposite spectrums of sorcery. The aberrant mind is very much a chaotic source of magic while the clockwork soul has its magical origins from a place of law and order.
One big change for sorcerer subclasses is that each sorcerous origin does get a subclass specific list of known spells they have access to as they increase in levels. Sorcerer subclasses In the 2014 PHB previously didn’t have this (though later subclasses did get these).
Below I’ve outlined the changes coming to each subclass:
Aberrant Sorcery
Very little actual changes for this subclass other than a few tweaks for clarification.
Clockwork Sorcery
The same goes for the clockwork sorcerer. Mechanically, they remain the same from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything with some minor wording tweaks.
Draconic Sorcery
The draconic sorcerer does get a lot of changes, and mainly, these serve to amp up the draconic elements of the subclass. Draconic sorcerers are tougher than their counterparts with access to very draconic spells (like dragon’s breath).
From 3rd level, you’ll get a bunch of draconic themed spells including dragon’s breath at level 3 and summon dragon at level 9. Your resistances no longer cost sorcery points (which always felt like a weak use of sorcery points) and are instead, always active.
Your dragon wings remain temporary, but they will now allow you to travel faster than you could before. Finally, at level 18, you can basically have a dragon companion with you whenever you need one. You can cast summon dragon without using components or spell slots and without requiring you to concentrate (letting you focus on other spells). A very cool way to manifest your draconic powers to literally have a dragon companion!
Wild Magic Sorcery
Wild magic sorcery sees sweeping changes across the board. The first of these is you no longer need your DM’s permission to use wild magic, you can just use it (like all other subclasses can use their features). Tides of chaos is not only easier to make use of, but you can use this feature more often too.
The biggest change by far is to the wild magic table which has been completely overhauled. Essentially, the options are wilder and more varied and have the ability to completely turn the tide of combat (for better or worse, but usually better). In fact the idea is less, I don’t know if something good or bad will happen and more, I expect something good will happen, I’ve just no idea what it will be and there’s a small chance something bad might happen.
As you gain levels, your sorcerer will gain greater control over their wild magic. For instance, at one stage, you’ll be able to roll twice on the table and choose which of those effects happens. Then by level 18 you can choose to make a tamed surge once per day where you choose the effect from the wild magic table that occurs.
With the other subclasses all getting their own spell lists, you might question in the book, where the wild magic sorcerer’s spells are. Instead of getting a list of extra spells known, the wild magic sorcerer gets their wild magic table instead which has a vast number of spells effects you can access, it’s just random which spell effect you’ll use.
Tactics
Below are a few interesting, new ways you can approach playing as a sorcerer with the 2024 update:
Metamagic combos: You’ll eventually be able to use 2 metamagic effects on a spell allowing for a load of great combos. We don’t know how the final spell list will look or how the metamagic options have been tweaked. However, if it’s similar to what we have in the 2014 PHB, then I imagine we’ll be able to do things like empower distant spells for powerful effects at long range. You could twin spell an attack while stealthing by throwing in subtle spell at the same time. Merging a careful spell to blast the enemies surrounding your martials with an empowered spell will allow you to rescue martials from dangerous situations. There really is a load of powerful combinations you can make as a sorcerer now.
Mega accuracy: Innate sorcery increases your chances of success when casting spells. Use it for important battles against tough enemies that might ordinarily be hard to hit or good at resisting your spells. AoE spells that require a saving throw may be particularly effective here as the increased DC will affect all targets of the spell. Similarly, it will stack with the likes of twinned spell to make hitting multiple targets in the same turn even easier. Empowering an AoE damage spell like cone of cold or fireball will mean making your extra damage go further by ensuring more targets fail their saving throw so consider using this ability alongside your metamagic uses to make them go further.
So there you have it. Everything changing for the sorcerer in the 2024 PHB. It’s not a huge amount, but the changes do feel like well worked upgrades on the existing sorcerer. I feel like they make them more flexible and able to enhance their spells more consistently and more profoundly making sorcerers even more fun in battle.
What do you think of the changes to the sorcerer? Let me know in the comments below.
Spotlight on the D&D 2024 revision
All the latest updates on what’s changing with the 2024 rules revision.
It is very sad what they did to the fun to play aberrant mind sorcerer (and to a lesser extend clockwork), despit claiming there would be “Very little actual changes”