Sorcerers in Baldur’s Gate 3 work much like the magic wielders do in Harry Potter—either you’re born with it, or you’re not. They draw their power to cast spells from a gift, such as being exposed to a powerful source, or from a bloodline, such as being descended from dragons, though there’s no Slytherins here. This makes for some great ways to roleplay a character, as the origin of your magic can become a focal point in the story. Here’s a guide to the best races and ability scores for a Sorcerer in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Gameplay-wise, Sorcerers not only gain a ridiculous amount of Cantrips to throw about at will, they also have Sorcery Points. These points can be spent on something called Metamagic, which in turn alters the way your spells work, such as doubling the range or targeting more than one creature. Pretty cool, right? Who needs the dusty tomes of a Wizard when you have all this power at your fingertips (or clawtips, if you’re a Dragonborn). However, this can make building a Sorcerer difficult. Let’s begin with the best races to choose.
Best Races for Sorcerers in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3)
As Baldur’s Gate 3 does away with race ability bonuses, you can freely make a Sorcerer of any race. That said, going with races that benefit spellcasting in some way leaves us with three choices: Tieflings (any subrace), a Half-Elf (Drow subrace), or Dragonborn of your favorite color.
Note that High Elves also offer a Cantrip of your choice. However, the modifier for that spell is based on your Intelligence, not your Charisma, which is what Sorcerers primarily use. Instead, all of the Tiefling subraces offer a great utility Cantrip to add to your expansive arsenal that doesn’t rely on an ability you won’t often use. Asmodeus gives you Produce Flame, Mephistopheles provides Mage Hand, and Zariel grants you Thaumaturgy. Likewise, the Drow Half-Elf comes with Dancing Lights. These Cantrips are otherwise unavailable to Sorcerers immediately.
Similarly, the Dragonborn comes paired with a powerful, close-range breath attack that pairs with the color of its scales: for Red Dragonborn its fire, and for Silver its an ice attack. This is a great skill to have when enemies get too close to your lightly armored spellslinger.
All Sorcerer Subclasses in BG3
Sorcerers have three subclasses to choose from during character creation that all channel magic in different ways, linking back to the origin of your character:
- Wild Magic: Gained from an ancient source of magic, every so often the Wild Magic feature will trigger a random spell effect. Chaotic, sure, but definitely fun. They also get the Tides of Chaos feature to give them Advantage on an Attack Roll, Ability Check, or Saving Throw.
- Draconic Bloodline: Since your distant grandparents were dragons, your character gets some cool scales on their body that raises their Armor Class when not wearing armor. They also gain increased hitpoints and a spell based on what type of Dragon your ancestor was.
- Storm Sorcery: This subclass draws upon storm-based spells, and as a bonus action, can fly around without triggering Opportunity Attacks. Awesome.
Best Ability Scores for Sorcerers in BG3
Ability scores give a modifier bonus to your dice rolls, and you have a total of 27 to allocate into six skills. Furthermore, you have the option to grant a +2 and a +1 bonus to two different abilities. For a Sorcerer, we recommend the following spread for just about any build:
Tiefling (any subrace)
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 14
Constitution: 16 (+1 bonus)
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 17 (+2 bonus)
Sorcerers are pretty straightforward with how they’re built. If you do not plan to multiclass into a Strength-based class, dumping this stat to make sure Charisma and Constitution are high is the way to go. This build also works for Dexterity-based multiclass options, such as Rogues and Monks. In fact, if you take the Draconic Bloodline subclass, the Armor Class passive along with the increased hit points pairs great with a Monk’s Unarmored Defense.
Best Backgrounds for Sorcerers
As for backgrounds, go for whichever makes the most sense for the character you wish to play rather than the skills you’ll receive. The Sage background makes a lot of sense here, but as the Sorcerer has a massive Charisma score, making sure you have proficiency in Skills such as Persuasion and Deception will go a long way into making sure you’re well equipped to face whatever Faerun has to throw at you outside of combat. Remember that the most important aspect of backgrounds is that they provide a way to get Inspiration Points; if you fulfill little requests related to them, you can use the Inspiration Points earned to reroll Ability Checks.
If slinging spells without worrying about musty tomes sounds like a good time to you, the Sorcerer is your best bet. And with our guide to the best races and ability scores for your Sorcerer in Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll be a master of the mystic arts in no time.
You can also respec at any time, so if the above build doesn’t work for you 100 hours into this meaty adventure, you’ll be able to change it up to play the way you want as you continue to explore Faerun. We also have guides to the other races in the game and plenty other tips as well, so take a look through our archives for more information on the game.
