Unearthed Arcana: What kind of Magick is this? (Sorcerer)

[Wilb]

ere it is!

[TenaciousJ]

At first glance, I like this one a lot. It's nice to see none of these have features that require sorcery points.

Favored Soul
I'm more than willing to trade off the armor proficiencies, simple weapon proficiencies, and Extra Attack of the old Favored Soul to gain what the new version has.  I like Supernatural Resilience more than the old proficiencies because it fits into a multiclass (or onto a mountain dwarf) so much better.  The versatility is blown wide open by gaining full access to the cleric spell list.  The high level features are a bit weaker than before, but who cares? The combined sorcerer and cleric spell lists might rival the wizard.

Phoenix
Scorching Ray is back.  The mantle seems like a good compromise of the pre-errata version of Elemental Affinity.  It's probably weaker than fire Draconic overall, but gets to exceed it for a short period each day.  Sometimes 1 minute of being stronger is all you need, and it comes back on a short rest.  Besides Scorching Ray, the mantle plays well with Flaming Sphere, Wall of Fire, and Green-Flame Blade off the top of my head.

Sea
Cold and lightning were the closest competitors to fire in Draconic, but each had big gaps in their elemental theme.  This brings them together to form a more complete package.  Frostbite gets really good with the cold curse.  15 ft. reduced movement speed AND disadvantage on the next attack roll at-will sounds like a good fallback for when you're tired of using slots.  The defensive features aren't really anything new, but it's nice to see more slot-less defense show up.

Stone
I've said before that sorcerer uses the SCAG melee cantrips better than any other class because of Quicken Spell, and now there's an archetype that makes such a build less reliant on multiclassing.  However, Con-based AC at 1st level with spellcasting is going to fuel a ridiculous number of multiclass builds.  I like it a bit better than barbarian Unarmored Defense because it doesn't require any Dex to be as good as wearing armor.  Stone Aegis has no limits, and unlike most stand-alone gish archetypes so far, these features to be more gish-y don't conflict with base class features. (i.e. Extra Attack is only better than SCAG cantrips between 5 and 10 without a feature like Divine Smite.)

[TenaciousJ]

Sea cheese: dip 2 levels of warlock, get Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast.  Eldritch Blast, push back 10 ft. per beam, apply forced movement curse.  Quicken Eldritch Blast, push back 25 ft. per beam.  If you have 2 levels of fighter for Action Surge, do another Eldritch Blast pushing back 25 ft. per beam.  At level 17, that's up to 240 ft. pushed in one turn.

e: doesn't work, as pointed out below

[Wilb]

J, the Phoenix mantle refreshes on a long rest...

The stone one seems to beg for dwarf.

[TenaciousJ]

Fixed.

Besides dwarf, I think it also favors Scourge Aaasimar.

+1 Con, +2 Cha, resistances, even more burst damage - A Stone sorcerer Aasimar can add up to 1.5 times his level to a spell at level 14.

And there's always Half-Elf.  +2 Cha, +1 Con, +1 Str/Dex

The dwarf's weapon proficiency is wasted on Stone, and mountain dwarf's armor proficiency is too.  Extra HP from Hill is helpful but then the +Wis hinders the choice.

I like that Stone removes the Dex dependence to an extent.  For a melee character, Str saving throws can be just as important as Dex to avoid being shoved around and tripped.  Str opens up access to better weapons.  PAM+War Caster works if you're using Booming Blade.  RAW, I think that combo also requires Spell Sniper.

[Cannotthink]

Curse of the Sea cantrip options
Cold Damage:Frostbite, Ray of Frost
Lightning Damage: Lightning Lure, Shocking Grasp
Forced Movement: Gust, Lightning Lure

I'm pretty sure that's all of them for a sorcerer.

[TenaciousJ]

That still leaves a cantrip open for utility.

Phoenix "cheese": Go Valor bard 3 for expertise in Athletics and shield proficiency.  Use Enhance Ability for advantage to Strength checks.  Get Shield Master.  Knock something prone and grapple it while using Mantle of Flame.  Hold it down and slowly burn it do death, perhaps using Green-Flame Blade to speed up the process if you let go of the shield after the shove.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

  4 options ?!

FS
1 Favored 2nd+3rd-ing the +1.
6 Blessed doubles 1 type of cha check, or All cha checks ??
18 superior to old FS 18, because it doesn't completely rearrange your spell load out

Sea
1 Curse Cold is a very tasty kiting power, 1 spell better than the Ray Of Frost + Expeditious Retreat combo
6 is Misty Step ++

Stone
1 Shield for Studded is a thing I've been looking for, for a while, I foresee lots of dipping just for this alone
1 Metal Magic needs a solid combing through, relative to the SCAG cantrips, assume some competing action problems
6 is Misty Step +++++++ with ultra-recharge

[Wilb]

Stone's Edge works on cantrips? Magic Missile is as op as I'm seeing it with this feature?

[TenaciousJ]

Stone's Edge is worded in such a way to not have any more beneficial interactions than normal.  No 9th level Magic Missile with Stone's Edge added 11 times.  You pick 1 creature damaged by your spell.  You deal more force damage to it equal to half your sorcerer level, and it's only applied once per casting.  I don't see a loophole for Magic Missile.  It does work on cantrips, which is synergistic with sorcerer gishing that relies on cantrips instead of Extra Attack.  By choosing that wording of applying it once per turn to only one creature damaged, I think they solved the Magic Missile loophole from the one druid archetype.

Metal Magic: Those are all bonus action spells.  They compete with Quicken Spell and will generally lose, but Magic Weapon/Elemental Weapon last a long time and the smite spells can be pre-cast if you know you'll be in a fight within their duration.  Thundering, Wrathful, and Branding Smite have utility beyond damage.  Also, sometimes you want one really big hit to bust concentration instead of 2 smaller hits that add up to more damage.  Branding Smite also works with ranged weapons.

i.e. 14th level in one hit: Booming Blade + Thundering Smite = weapon+2d8+Str/Dex+half sorcerer level+2d6+half sorcerer level again in 1 hit = reasonably averages 42, for a DC 21 concentration check assuming a greatsword or 40.5 with a halberd for DC 20 or 39.5 with a rapier for DC 19 (add Aasimar transformation for another 14 damage and 7 on the concentration check)

Staggering Smite would generally be a trap.  The Smite spells also work with reach weapons innately, while the SCAG cantrips require Spell Sniper to abuse glaive/halberd reach.  The durations are the only reason IMO to choose Magic Weapon and Elemental Weapon over concentrating on Haste.  Both work with Twinned Spell.

[Wilb]

J, you think losing the last 3 sorc levels would be ok if I could get 3 early lock levels? Undying Light patron Tomelock for pure con/cha interaction. Sorc 1/Lock 3/ Sorc X would be ok?

[TenaciousJ]

I harp on that particular multiclass a lot because it's less powerful than being a single-classed sorcerer, not because it's outright bad.  I'd still rather play a sorcerer/warlock than a few other base classes.  If you had to do it, you'd want the warlock levels early, 2-4 ideally, to get the delayed progression pain out of the way.  Just remember you're going to be 3 levels behind on spells to get... Cha-based weaponry and cantrip optimization.

If you use standard array with an ideal race, the gap between Cha and Str/Dex won't be significant until you've fully sunk 1 or 2 ASIs into Cha, and you're delaying ASIs.  I'm assuming you would not dump Dex even if you went with a Shillelagh build, because why would you dump Dex over Int and Str?

A Scourge Aasimar can get 16 Con and 16 Cha to start off with, leaving a 13, 12, 10, and 8 to distribute.  The gap is +2 Cha over Str/Dex at least.  Maybe that's worth it.  Then again, the advantages of being a Scourge Aasimar don't rely on you using a weapon or casting only cantrips.

A Half-Elf can get 16 Con and 16 Cha to start off with, then boost the 13 to a 14 for Str or Dex.  Then the gap is only +1 in favor of Cha.  IMO that's not worth delaying ASIs and spell progression.

A variant Human can get 16 Cha, 14 Con, and 14 Str/Dex.  That's still a gap of only +1, and they get a feat.  There's unfortunately few choices for a +1 Con or +1 Cha feat, though you could start warlock instead and take Resilient: Con, placing the standard array 14 in Con and 15 in Cha to end up with 16/16 after racials.  Still, that gap is only +2 and you used a feat that could have been War Caster with innate Con save proficiency.

PB makes the multiclass less desirable because the Scourge Aasimar can PB 15 Con and 14 Cha with a 14 for Str/Dex with points to spare, and the Half-Elf could PB 15 Str/Dex and 15 Con with 14 Cha, erasing the gap until level 7.  The variant human can similarly PB 15 for Con and Cha with a 14 for Str/Dex and have something left over.

It's the paradox of the Shillelagh build: It makes the most difference with the accumulation of ASIs that you're delaying by multiclassing for Cha-based Shillelagh.  You'll only get a big enough gap between Str/Dex and Cha if you're rolling for ability scores or you pick sub-optimal races.

[TenaciousJ]

Blessed Countenance + Jack of All Trades has interesting interactions, especially for Dispel Magic and Counterspell.  Previous rulings on Jack of All Trades says it counts for existing stuff like Reliable Talent that checks for any non-zero portion of your proficiency bonus to function, and Blessed Countenance is worded similarly.  Jack of All Trades with it means you're essentially fully proficient in all Charisma skills and you get to dispel/counter as well as an Abjuration wizard on even proficiency levels.

2 levels of bard on a sorcerer build doesn't ask too much from you since you maintain the same number of spell slots to gain 2 cantrips and 5 spells known with Cha-mod uses of 1d6 bardic inspiration per day and 1d6 Song of Rest.  The bard dip also opens up the loophole to cast Magic Initiate spells with spell slots, and you gain an extra skill proficiency and light armor proficiency.

[Childe]

Sea cheese: dip 2 levels of warlock, get Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast.  Eldritch Blast, push back 10 ft. per beam, apply forced movement curse.  Quicken Eldritch Blast, push back 25 ft. per beam.  If you have 2 levels of fighter for Action Surge, do another Eldritch Blast pushing back 25 ft. per beam.  At level 17, that's up to 240 ft. pushed in one turn.

Curse only works once/turn.

"Once per turn when you cast a spell, you can trigger the curse if that spell deals cold or lightning damage to the cursed target or forces it to move."

Cantrips just keep the curse active for future turns rather than ending it.

[TenaciousJ]

Sea cheese: dip 2 levels of warlock, get Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast.  Eldritch Blast, push back 10 ft. per beam, apply forced movement curse.  Quicken Eldritch Blast, push back 25 ft. per beam.  If you have 2 levels of fighter for Action Surge, do another Eldritch Blast pushing back 25 ft. per beam.  At level 17, that's up to 240 ft. pushed in one turn.

Curse only works once/turn.

"Once per turn when you cast a spell, you can trigger the curse if that spell deals cold or lightning damage to the cursed target or forces it to move."

Cantrips just keep the curse active for future turns rather than ending it.

Yep, I misread that one big-time.  It's a bit more complex of a feature than usual.  At least it makes Gust useful in combat.

[TenaciousJ]

J, you think losing the last 3 sorc levels would be ok if I could get 3 early lock levels? Undying Light patron Tomelock for pure con/cha interaction. Sorc 1/Lock 3/ Sorc X would be ok?

Hexblade 1 just replaced Tome Shillelagh.  It's worth revisiting now that it only takes one level to achieve that stuff.