Guide:The Wizard's hidden subclass: School of Sorcery
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Introduction
Hello my fellow wizard, if you came here you must be interested in the secrets of the arcane, are you not? But before we star anwer me this: how many times have you studied and praticed a spell for hours and hours only for some nobody sorcerer to know the same spell just because I... I don't know... some dragon sneezed a bit too close to him? And they also can do something called "metamagic" to alter his spells at will, something even us mighty wizards can't do... or, better saying, something we couldn't do.
The School of Sorcery
The school of sorcery consists in mixing wizard and sorcerer levels so we can get the best of both classes. The version I call "the classic" of this build consists in 1 wizard/11 sorcerer and that's why I call it "the school of sorcery wizard" the idea is to take utility spells with the sorcerer while you use scrolls to learn wizard spells of higher levels since in Baldur's Gate 3 you can learn any spell if you have the coresponding spell slot.
This leaves a few questions: What about the atributes? You need Inteligence and Charisma for spells right? Well yes... but actually no. Not all spells are created equal and many of the great spells don't even care about spell DC nor spell attack rolls for example Shiel, Magic Missile, Mage Armor, Darkness, Haste, Counterspell even high level ones like Wall of Stone and Globe of Invulnerability. You can have a Spell DC of 26 or 5 these spells will work the same and those are the spells we'll take with the sorcerer levels. The wizard can prepare a number of spells equal to his wizard level plus his inteligence modifier so as long as we have a high enough INT score we'll be able to prepare all the spells we'll need to fill in the gaps in the sorcerer spell list.
The other important question is why is this better than just going sorcerer? It really isn't... at least not the 1 wizard/11 sorcerer spread I mentioned earlier the only spells you get this way that are worth getting are a few the Conjure Elemental ones, Longstrider, Grease(sorcerers can get this one with the draconic subclass), Otiluke's Freezing Sphere, Wall of Ice, Glyph of Warding, Otto's Irresistible Dance, Remove Curse if you don't have a cleric. Not nothing but not really impressive, the more interesting part would be to explore more the "learning" aspect of the wizard.
When multiclassing spellcasters, it is a bit weird to go too far in any of the classes because you miss on the higher levels spells, but since this build only cares about having high level spell slots so the wizard can learn the spells through scrolls, we can weave in more levels from other classes (see what I did there?). What is that? You said you really wanted your wizard to cast Speak with animals? Well take a level in druid, take two while you're at it, wild shape, Healing Word, Goodbery, you can even get Spike Growth, Silence, Blur, Mirror Image you get the point by now. Get as many levels in other spellcasting classes as you want without sacrificing high end spells.
Spell Selection
Interesting spells for some classes you might want to include in your build. Due to the nature of multiclassing you'll have access to higher level spell with the wizard first because of the spell scrolls you learn from, but don't be afraid to take spells you already have from other sources, as it frees wizard spell preparations (wich are very valuable in this build). It is also good to remember thet both the sorcerer and the bard can only change their spells on level up, while the other classes can change their preparations anytime outside combat, so situational spells like Remove Curse are much better on a cleric that can change to it anytime a curse shows up than on a bard that needs to use their one time selection of Magical Secrets to cast it. Note that some of the spells recomended in classes other than yhe wizard might still allow for a Saving Throw, but in those cases the spell should still be useful even if the enemy succeeds, for example Ice Storm creates an ice surface and Hunger of Hadar blinds those inside it.
The Wizard
| Level | Wizard Spells |
|---|---|
| 1 | Disguise Self/ Enhance Leap/ Feather Fall/ Find Familiar/ Fog Cloud/ Grease/ Longstrider/ Mage Armor/ Magic Missile/ Protection From Evil and Good/ Shield/ Sleep/ Tasha's Hideous Laughter/ Thunderwave |
| 2 | Cloud of Daggers/ Darkness/ Darkvision/ Detect Thoughts/ Hold Person/ Invisibility/ Knock/ Misty Step/ See Invisibility/ Shatter/ Web |
| 3 | Counterspell/ Fear/ Fireball/ Gaseous Form/ Glyph of Warding/ Haste/ Hypnotic Pattern/ Lightning Bolt/ Remove Curse/ Sleet Storm/ Slow |
| 4 | Banishment/ Conjure minor Elemental/ Dimension Door/ Evard's Black Tentacles/ Grather Invisibility/ Ice Storm/ Otiluke's Resilient Sphere/ Polimorph/ Wall of Fire |
| 5 | Cone of Cold/ Conjure Elemental/ Dominate Person/ Telekinesis/ Wall of Stone |
| 6 | Chain Lightning/ Globe of Invulnerability/ Otiluke's Freezing Sphere/ Otto's Irresistible Dance/ Sunbeam/ Wall of Ice |
The Sorcerer
| Level | Sorcerer Spells |
|---|---|
| 1 | Disguise Self/ Enhance Leap/ Feather Fall/ Fog Cloud/ Mage Armor/ Magic Missile/ Protection From Evil and Good/ Shield/ Sleep |
| 2 | Darkness/ Darkvision/ Detect Thoughts/ Invisibility/ Knock/ Misty Step/ See Invisibility |
| 3 | Counterspell/ Gaseous Form/ Haste |
| 4 | Dimension Door/ Grather Invisibility/ Ice Storm |
| 5 | Wall of Stone |
| 6 | Globe of Invulnerability |
The Cleric
| Level | Cleric Spells | Domain Spells |
|---|---|---|
| Cantrip | Guidance/ Resistance | |
| 1 | Bless/ Create or Destroy Water/ Healing Word/ Protection From Evil and Good/ Sanctuary/ Shield of Faith | Sleep (Knowledge)/ Disguise Self(Trikery) |
| 2 | Aid/ Calm Emotions/ Lesser Restoration/ Silence | Spike Growth (Nature) |
| 3 | Animate Dead/ Mass Healing Word/ Remove Curse/ Revivify/ Speak with Dead | Plant Growth (Nature) |
| 4 | Death Ward/ Freedom of Movement | Dimension Door (Trickery)/ Otiluke's Resilient Sphere (Knowledge)/ Ice Storm (Tempest) |
| 5 | Dispel Evil and Good/ Greater Restoration | Wall of Stone (Nature) |
| 6 | Create Undead/ Heal/ Heroes' Feast/ Planar Ally |
The Druid
| Level | Druid Spells | Circle Spells |
|---|---|---|
| Cantrip | Guidance/ Resistance | |
| 1 | Create or Destroy Water/ Enhance Leap/ Goodberry/ Healing Word/ Longstrider/ Speak With Animals | |
| 2 | Darkvision/ Lesser Restoration/ Pass Without Trace/ Spike Growth/ Detect Thughts(Spores) | Misty Step(Coast/ Underdark)/ Mirror Image(Coast/ Mountain)/ Silence(Desert)/ Blur(Desert)/ Invisibility(Grassland)/ Darkness(Swamp) |
| 3 | Plant Growth/ Animate Dead(Spores)/ Gaseous Form(Spores) | Haste(Artic/ Grassland)/ Gaseous Form(Underdark) |
| 4 | Conjure Minor Elemental/ Conjure Woodland Being/ Freedom of Movoment/ Ice Storm | Greater Invisibility(Underdark) |
| 5 | Conjure Elemental/ Grater Restoration/ Wall of Stone | |
| 6 | Heal/ Heroes' Feast/ Wall of Thorns |
The Bard
| Level | Bard Spells | Magical Secrets |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disguise Self/ Feather Fall/ Healing Word/ Longstrider/ Sleep/ Speak With Animals | Armour of Agathys/ Bless/ Sanctuary |
| 2 | Calm Emotions/ Detect Thoughts/ Invisibility/ Knock/ Lesses Restoration/ See Invisibility/ Silence | |
| 3 | Plnd Growth/ Speak With Dead | Counterspell/ Haste/ Hunger of Hadar/ Mass Healing Word |
| 4 | Dimension Door/ Freedom of Movement/ Greater Invisibility | Death Ward |
| 5 | Greater Restoration | Wall of Stone |
| 6 | Otto's Irresistible Dance |
Sample Builds
These are a few builds that explore the concept I explained earlier, the order you take levels in doesn't matter too much but I'll make notes when it makes a reasonable diference. I'm also not taking into acount specific items or choices in game in order to keep this spoiler free and also because I don't like the idea of the build railroading the decisions in game, so if you plan on doing those change the build accordingly and if you just happen upon those choices by chance the build will still work just fine.
The School of Sorcery Wizard (1 Wizard/ 11 Sorcerer)
|
8 (-1)
|
14 (+2)
|
16 (+3)
|
16 (+3)
|
12 (+1)
|
8 (-1)
|
| Level | Class | Spells | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sorcerer 1 | Sleep/ Mage Armor | |
| 2 | Wizard 1/ Sorcerer 1 | Grease/ Longstrider/ Sleep/ Magic Missile/ Find Familiar/ Longstrider | |
| 3 | Wizard 1/ Sorcerer 2 | Sleep -> Shield
Enhance Leap |
|
| 4 | Wizard 1/ Sorcerer 3 | Darkness | Careful Spell/ Twinned Spell |
| 5 | Wizard 1/ Sorcerer 4 | Misty Step | 3rd level spell slots
Quickened Spell Feat: +2 INT |
| 6 | Wizard 1/ Sorcerer 5 | Haste | |
| 7 | Wizard 1/ Sorcerer 6 | Counterspell | 4th level spell slots |
| 8 | Wizard 1/ Sorcerer 7 | Knock | |
| 9 | Wizard 1/ Sorcerer 8 | Dimension Door | 5th level spell slots
Feat: +2 INT |
| 10 | Wizard 1/ Sorcerer 9 | WAll of Stone | |
| 11 | Wizard 1/ Sorcerer 10 | Greater Invisibility | 6th level spell slots
Heightened Spell |
| 12 | Wizard 1/ Sorcerer 11 | Globe of Invulnerability |
The first level is taken as a sorcerer for the CON Save proficiency that will help maintain concentrationon your spells. Not too much to say that I didn't say already, you can trade one level of sorcerer for a second level in wizard for a "real" subclass if you want that.
The Balanced One(4 Wizard/ 8 Sorcerer)
|
8 (-1)
|
14 (+2)
|
17 (+3)
|
16 (+3)
|
10
|
8 (-1)
|
| Level | Class | Spells | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wizard 1 | Mage Armor/ Grease/ Sleep/ Shield/ Magic Missile/ Find Familiar | |
| 2 | Wizard 2 | Thunderwave/ Longstrider | |
| 3 | Wizard 3 | Cloud of Daggers/ Web | |
| 4 | Wizard 4 | Hold Person/ Misty Step | Feat: Resilient (Constitution) |
| 5 | Wizard 4/ Sorcerer 1 | Mage Armor/ Shield | 3rd level spell slots |
| 6 | Wizard 4/ Sorcerer 2 | Enhance Leap | |
| 7 | Wizard 4/ Sorcerer 3 | Darkness | 4th level spell slots
Distant Spell/ Twinned Spell |
| 8 | Wizard 4/ Sorcerer 4 | Knock | Feat: +2 INT
Quickened Spell |
| 9 | Wizard 4/ Sorcerer 5 | Haste | 5th level spell slots |
| 10 | Wizard 4/ Sorcerer 6 | Counterspell | |
| 11 | Wizard 4/ Sorcerer 7 | Dimension Door | 6th level spell slots |
| 12 | Wizard 4/ Sorcerer 8 | Misty Step | Feat: +2 INT |
A bit more hit points and better concentration checks due to higher Constitution. I chose to start wizard here for the proficiency in Wisdom Saving Throws and later get 18 CON with the feat Resilient(Constitution). Both of these saving throws are very important so it's good to get proficiency in both. You do lose a metamagic option for this though.
The Lighting Mage(2 Wizard/ 2 Cleric/ 8 Sorcerer)
|
8 (-1)
|
12 (+1)
|
16 (+3)
|
16 (+3)
|
14 (+2)
|
8 (-1)
|
| Level | Class | Spells | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 Sorcerer | Sleep/ Mage Armor | |
| 2 | 1 Sorcerer/ 1 Wizard | Grease/ Longstrider/ Shield/ Magic Missile/ Find Familiar/ Longstrider | |
| 3 | 1 Sorcerer/ 2 Wizard | Thunderwave/ Enhance Leap | 2nd level spell slots |
| 4 | 1 Sorcerer/ 2 Wizard/ 1 Cleric | Bless/ Heling Word/ Sanctuary | Tempest Domain |
| 5 | 1 Sorcerer/ 2 Wizard/ 2 Cleric | Create or Destroy Water | Destructive Wrath
3rd level spell slots |
| 6 | 2 Sorcerer/ 2 Wizard/ 2 Cleric | Sleep -> Feather Fall
Enhance Leap |
|
| 7 | 3 Sorcerer/ 1 Wizard/ 2 Cleric | Knock | 4th level spell slots
Distant Spell/ Twinned Spell |
| 8 | 4 Sorcerer/ 2 Wizard/ 2 Cleric | Misty Step | Feat: +2 INT
Quickened Spell |
| 9 | 5 Sorcerer/ 2 Wizard/ 2 Cleric | Haste | 5th level spell slots |
| 10 | 6 Sorcerer/ 2 Wizard/ 2 Cleric | Counterspell | |
| 11 | 7 Sorcerer/ 2 Wizard/ 2 Cleric | Dimension Door | 6th level spell slots |
| 12 | 8 Sorcerer/ 2 Wizard/ 2 Cleric | Darkness | Feat: +2 INT |
Did you know creatures with the wet condition are vulnerable to cold and lightning damage in Baldur's Gate 3? So quickened spell Create Water into a Chain Lightning + Destructive Wrath Channel Divinity is 180 damage on anyone who fail the save. Even just a Lightning Bolt will deal 96 damage with this combo. Thats pretty good. Also strongly recomend School of Evocation wizard just to keep your party members safe from your spells. Plus this build gets heavy armor proficiency.
Final Notes
Races: Doesn't really matter what race you choose, they are pretty well balanced against each other(exept maybe the dragonborn). But if you really want to optmize your wizard, Humans and High-Elves get proficiency in shields and light armor, while Githyankis and Shield Dwarves get Mediuim Armor. However, you can always get these proficiencies with a level in cleric anyway(or even heavy armor in some domains).
Feats: For the sake of simplicity I only recomended +2 INT and Resilient(Constitution) in this guide. But there are a few other choices if you want to delve into that. My favorites are:
- Alert: Getting surprised is a fast way to get tpk'd by an otherwise easy encounter. In addition the +5 to initiative is a MASSIVE boost. Unlike in 5e, initiative in Baldur's Gate 3 is rolled using a d4, so this feat almost guarantees you will act first.
- Resilient(Wisdom): Wisdom Saves are very scary ones to fail for the most part. If you started sorcerer this feat will help with that. Also helps to maintain concentration on spells(doesn't matter if you have a +13 on your CON saves, if the Hold Person lands on you your concentration drops anyway). Be sure to adjust yous ability scores to acomodate the +1 Wisdom.
- Dual Wielder: Allows you to dual wield staffs, and there are plenty of good ones for you to choose from. Even gives +1 AC on top of that.
- War Caster: Want your concentration even more protected? This if how you do it. Not truly necessary as the game gives you a lot of options to help you maintain concentration, but a good option anyway (bonus tip, disable or at least set to ask for your oportunity attacks so you don't waste your reaction and end up not being able to cast Shield/Counterspell when you need to).
- Lucky: You're going to miss a save or get crit sooner or later, maybe you get lucky the second time. This feat will always find value.