One D&D Shadow Magic Sorcerer Build Guide – 2025 Update

For all D&D guides on Nat1gaming, they only use the main sourcebooks (Player’s Handbook, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything) as well as Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos (mostly for Silvery Barbs) as those tend to be the most commonly used books at tables. Always be sure that if you’re following a guide that you’re adhering to your tables rules about what sourcebooks you are allowed to follow.

Any spell, class, feature, or other game item that is linkable on this website is covered by the 5th edition Open Games License and will be in the Player’s Handbook, but not everything in the Player’s Handbook will be linked to. All other materials that aren’t linked to are from other sourcebooks or aren’t allowed to be linked to per the 5th Edition Open Games License, so please refer to the appropriate sourcebooks for that information.

For the purposes of this guide, it will be assumed that you would not be multiclassing. While multiclassing can be excellent for many of these, this is for those who want to play the build all the way through in the same class. Guides that use multiclassing will be separate from these.

Finally, please refer to the Spell List and Spell Tier list for any substitutions you’d want to make to the build.

The Complete Sorcerer Spell List

Sorcerer Spell Tier List – The Best Sorcerer Spells

As the title explains, this is the perfect subclass if you want to roleplay as a really edgy character, it’s hard to do better than this. If you want a reason from a gameplay perspective, Shadow Magic Sorcerer not only has all excellent subclass abilities, it’s likely one of the best (if not the best) support builds you can get for a Sorcerer if you like playing a less aggressive playstyle. Overall, this subclass is absolutely fantastic whether you want to play a support build or not!

Eyes of the Dark (Level 3) – B+ Tier – Long range darkvision is nice, but being able to cast a Darkness you can see through is really strong. You don’t even need to have your team build around this to be effective, but if your team does build around this, this can be the start of a very strong synergy.

Strength of the Grave (Level 3) – C+ Tier – Staving off unconsciousness is really nice, but the DC is only going to get harder and harder to pass as you level up as it’s based on total damage taken and not how much damage over an enemy did to you. Still, any effect that lets you keep fighting when you should go down is generally quite good.

Hound of Ill-Omen (Level 6) – B Tier – This ability is quite good for messing up an enemy as this dog can attack a target and give them disadvantage on all of your spells. If you need, you can summon multiple of these hounds as well to get multiple enemies or just really bully one!

Shadow Walk (Level 14) – A- Tier – While limited to dim light or darkness, free teleportation is free teleportation.

Umbral Form (Level 18) – B- Tier – You shouldn’t be in the line of fire normally, so the resistance to damage is just alright, but no free activation of this initially really hurts the power level of this as it’s a lot of sorcery points to activate. While damage resistance and less inhibited movement is nice, this is not an ability I would be excited to activate ` This is still great in a pinch, but I’m not super excited by it.

The Ultimate 2025 One D&D Subclass Tier List – February 2025 Update

One DnD 2025 Class and Subclass Tier List Breakdown

Level	Class Features/Feat	Notes
1	Innate Sorcery Spellcasting	+ Fire Bolt + Light (Aasimar) + Mage Hand + Minor Illusion + Prestidigitation + Magic Missile + Shield
2	Font of Magic Metamagic (Heightened Spell, Quickened Spell)	+ Feather Fall + Silvery Barbs
3	Eyes of the Dark, Strength of the Grave	+ Darkness (Shadow) + Suggestion + Web
4	Feat: Inspiring Leader (CHA)	+ Shape Water + Misty Step
5	Sorcerous Restoration	+ Counterspell + Fireball
6	Hound of Ill Omen	+ Dispel Magic
7	–	– Fire Bolt + Sorcerous Burst + Polymorph
8	Feat: Speedy (CON)	+ Wall of Fire
9	–	+ Dimension Door + Wall of Stone
10	Metamagic (Subtle Spell)	+ Elementalism + Absorb Elements
11	–	+ Mass Suggestion
12	Feat: Charisma to 20	None
13	–	– Magic Missile + Crown of Stars + Teleport
14	Shadow Walk	None
15	–	+ Dominate Monster
16	Feat: Constitution to 18	None
17	Metamagic (Careful Spell)	+ Wish
18	Umbral Form	+ Meteor Swarm
19	Epic Boon: Boon of Fate	+ Gate
20	Arcane Apotheosis	+ Time Stop

Here’s a list of magic items you may want to look for/ask your DM about specifically for this subclass – magic items that literally anybody would want (like the Bag of Holding) won’t be mentioned. For a full tier list ranking of the available magic items, check out the link below!

2025 One D&D Magic Item Tier List

Common

There are plenty of solid magic items at Common, just none you specifically need.

Uncommon

Broom of Flying – A Tier – Flying is obviously really good on any character that doesn’t need to be in melee range.

Slippers of Spider Climbing – A Tier – If you can’t get a Broom of Flying or Winged Boots, this is a pretty awesome alternative as long as you aren’t outside.

Wand of Magic Missiles – A Tier – This will consistently deal more damage than your cantrip if it comes to that so this is a solid pickup.

Winged Boots – A Tier – Flying is obviously really good on any character that doesn’t need to be in melee range.

Wand of the War Mage (+1) – B Tier – Excellent for any caster who’s looking to use cantrips as a consistent damage source.

Rare

Boots of Levitation – A Tier – Ironically this is weaker than uncommon counterparts for the most part, but still excellent if you didn’t get a Broom of Flying or Winged Boots.

Cube of Force – A Tier – This is a really solid spell list that a Sorcerer would be happy to have.

Elven Chain – A Tier – Literally the perfect armor for those who don’t get armor proficiencies.

Wand of the War Mage (+2) – B Tier – Excellent for any caster who’s looking to use cantrips as a consistent damage source.

Very Rare

Staff of Power – S Tier – Excellent for anyone who can use it as this makes your spells better and the spell list is quite strong.

Rod of Alertness – A Tier – Better initiative rolls is excellent on a Sorcerer plus the other effects this provides makes this a big priority for you if possible.

Tome of Influence and Leadership – A Tier – Anything that permanently increases your stats is obviously going to be great!

Animated Shield – B Tier – While not a huge bonus, this is great for anyone who doesn’t naturally have shield proficiencies.

Robe of Scintillating Colors – B Tier – Considering your main job is to concentrate on a powerful spell in fights, any item that can help you avoid hits is huge.

Wand of the War Mage (+3) – B Tier – Excellent for any caster who’s looking to use cantrips as a consistent damage source.

Legendary

Robe of the Archmagi – S Tier – An extremely powerful item for casters for better defense and stronger spells.

Staff of the Magi – A Tier – The ultimate staff for casters! Pick one up if possible.

Not finding the build you want in this article? Check out this article instead!

The Ultimate One D&D Sorcerer Guide – Mastering Sorcerer

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Species: Aasimar

Attributes:

	POINT BUY
STRENGTH	8
DEXTERITY	15 (+1 background) = 16
CONSTITUTION	15
INTELLIGENCE	8
WISDOM	8
CHARISMA	15 (+2 background) = 17

Class: Sorcerer

Class Features: Innate Sorcery, Spellcasting

Skill Proficiencies: Insight and Persuasion

Background: Entertainer (Musician)

Starting Equipment: Spear, 2 Daggers, Arcane Focus, Dungeoneer’s Pack, and 28 gp + 50 gp from background

Starting Spells:

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Fire Bolt
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
1st Level Spell	Magic Missile
1st Level Spell	Shield

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Species: Aasimar

The best species for your average build. Human is a consideration as well to grab Alert on top of Musician, but Aasimar just give a lot of value, and since you have a background you’re happy with, Aasimar is the next best choice.

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Attributes

	POINT BUY
STRENGTH	8
DEXTERITY	15 (+1 background) = 16
CONSTITUTION	15
INTELLIGENCE	8
WISDOM	8
CHARISMA	15 (+2 background) = 17

A Sorcerer’s main stat is Charisma so that has to be buffed. Beyond that, Dexterity and Constitution are most important to not get constantly downed, so pumping those up is also a great idea. Having a negative Wisdom modifier isn’t ideal so you can eat into your Dexterity and go down to a +2 modifier if you want the 0 on Wisdom, but that’s also personal preference.

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Proficiencies: Insight and Persuasion

Per most Charisma casters, you’re likely going to be the “face” (the person who talks the most) of the party so being really good at that is generally a good thing.

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Background: Entertainer

You need a background that gives you a bonus to Charisma at a minimum, but if you can get the best Origin feat to boot? This is an easy choice for Warlocks.

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Starting Equipment – Spear, 2 Daggers, Arcane Focus, Dungeoneer’s Pack, and 28 gp + 50 gp from background

Standard Sorcerer fare, nothing novel.

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Class – Sorcerer

Sorcerers get two inherent features at level one: Innate Sorcery and Spellcasting.

Innate Sorcery is a new feature from the 2024 Player’s Handbook, you can activate this twice per day as a bonus action to increase your spell save DC by 1 and to give yourself advantage on all your spell attack rolls. Save this for tough fights and this will be extremely helpful, especially for spells that require a spell attack.

Spellcasting has also been vastly improved for Sorcerer now that you both get to prepare spells rather than memorize them and you get to prepare significantly more spells than you could ever memorize from the 2014 rules.

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Starting Spells

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Fire Bolt
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
1st Level Spell	Magic Missile
1st Level Spell	Shield

This is a pretty standard spell list of a lot of utility cantrips, a solid attack cantrip, Magic Missile for more offense and Shield for defense. Very standard stuff.

A consideration some players who want maximum damage may want to make is whether you want to pick up True Strike rather than Fire Bolt right now. Technically speaking, True Strike is better than Fire Bolt if you’re using a Light Crossbow, but personally, I find having to track bolts be more annoying, even if it is a little bit better until level 5, so I personally like sticking with Fire Bolt.

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Level 2

Class Features: Font of Magic, Metamagic

Spell Change Log: + Feather Fall + Silvery Barbs

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Fire Bolt
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Magic Missile
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs

Your first class feature is Font of Magic which introduces Sorcery Points into the mix. Sorcery Points are your resource to either give you more spell slots or used to fuel Metamagic features!

Your second feature is the most emblematic Sorcerer features, Metamagic! I will always recommend taking the two best Metamagic features immediately – Heightened Spell and and Quickened Spell. Heightened Spell is excellent to make any spell with saving throws much harder for enemies to pass, especially useful for spells that have no effect if the enemy passes the save. Quickened Spell, on the other hand, does as advertised and lets you cast a spell as a bonus action if you need to do something else with your action. You shouldn’t be using this too much when you have so few sorcery points, but as you gain more sorcery points, this becomes a better and better option.

For your spells, you can pick up Feather Fall and Silvery Barbs.

I always like picking up Feather Fall early as you never know when you might be plummeting to your doom.

Silvery Barbs, on the other hand, is just the best first level spell in the game so I would always recommend taking it. If your table doesn’t allow Silvery Barbs, I would recommend taking something like Absorb Elements or Detect Magic instead.

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Level 3

Subclass: Shadow Magic

Class Features: Eyes of the Dark, Strength of the Grave

Spell Change Log: + Darkness (Shadow) + Suggestion + Web

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Fire Bolt
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Magic Missile
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web

Level 3 brings your subclass, Shadow Magic, and two abilities right off the bat with Eyes of the Dark and Strength of the Grave.

The first ability is Eyes of the Dark which simply means an improved Darkvision and getting Darkness for free which is pretty nice!

Strength of the Grave is yet another excellent subclass feature that may save your life once per day, somewhat similarly to a Barbarian‘s Relentless Rage.

Both are very simple, but quite strong features!

For your spell choices this level, I really like picking up the excellent Suggestion and Web. Both are obscenely strong combat spells, but where Suggestion is better against a single target (or in a fight with fewer, tougher enemies), Web excels when there are a lot of enemies on the battlefield to gum up. That said, they are both awesome pretty much no matter what, so you can’t go wrong having both of them.

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Level 4

Feat: Inspiring Leader (CHA)

Spell Change Log: + Shape Water + Misty Step

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Fire Bolt
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Magic Missile
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web

Since you want to get that coveted 18 Charisma, you should take the excellent half feat – Inspiring Leader. Inspiring Leader gives you and your team a good amount of temporary health at the end of every short or long rest which is really powerful. If you already have an ally with this feat, you can opt for War Caster instead as the temporary health won’t stack. If you do keep this feat, don’t forget about using Musician as well!

You get an additional cantrip at this point, and I would stick with more utility ones so Shape Water works well.

For spells, it’s hard to go wrong with the incredible Misty Step. Being able to reposition yourself out of danger for just a bonus action is extremely powerful, and pretty much any spellcaster who can afford to take this, should.

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Level 5

Class Feature: Sorcerous Restoration

Spell Change Log: + Counterspell + Hypnotic Pattern

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Fire Bolt
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Magic Missile
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern

For your class ability, you get what was formerly the level 20 Sorcerer ability – Sorcerous Restoration. Rather than regaining 4 sorcery points per long rest, once per day, you can recover half of your sorcery points instead. While this is obviously a weaker ability, it’s ironically not substantially weaker than the previous ability! Obviously this isn’t going to recover too many right now, but as you climb in levels, this is only going to get better and better.

For your actual spell choices, I like picking up Counterspell and Hypnotic Pattern.

Even though it’s been a little nerfed, Counterspell is still invaluable for every caster to have. To potentially deprive the enemy of their action only at the cost of your reaction is incredibly powerful.

For your second spell, you have to pick up Hypnotic Pattern. While I generally have a slight preference for Fireball, Hypnotic Pattern is likely the better spell and works better in this build as it synergizes extremely well with Hound of Ill-Omen next level. An excellent spell synergizing with an excellent ability is a recipe for success.

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Level 6

Class Features: Hound of Ill-Omen

Spell Change Log: + Dispel Magic

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Fire Bolt
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Magic Missile
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern

You get your third subclass feature with Hound of Ill-Omen. This is a super unique feature which functionally summons a specter wolf that only has eyes for a single target. This wolf can go through walls, attack that target, and even give them disadvantage on saving throws which is really powerful! Lastly, you can summon multiple at once if you have the sorcery points making it so your AOE CC works against multiple targets!

For spells, I really like picking up Dispel Magic. You won’t always be able to Counterspell a scary magical effect, so having both is a really good way to cover your bases.

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Level 7

Spell Change Log: – Fire Bolt / + Sorcerous Burst + Polymorph

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Sorcerous Burst
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Magic Missile
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern
4th Level Spell	Polymorph

For your first (and only) cantrip swap, I like moving off of Fire Bolt to grab Sorcerous Burst. While Sorcerous Burst will technically deal two less damage than Fire Bolt at this level, being able to choose the element you’re attacking with will likely start being important once you run into more damage resistances/immunities. If the idea of 1 less average damage haunts you, you can instead swap out a utility cantrip you don’t find yourself using.

For your spell choice, you absolutely have to take Polymorph the second you are allowed to. Polymorph is simply one of the best spells in the game, and it’s particularly good at getting yourself or allies back into a fight when you/they are low on health, spell slots, or other relevant resources. Going from near dead into a Giant Ape or Tyrannosaurus Rex is quite nice!

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Level 8

Feat: Speedy (CON)

Spell Change Log: + Wall of Fire

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Sorcerous Burst
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Magic Missile
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
4th Level Spell	Wall of Fire

You get your next feat for level 8, and while you could push your Charisma to 20, I like taking Speedy to increase your Constitution! Having extra speed and enemies having disadvantage on hitting you with opportunity attacks can be life saving in tough encounters.

For your spell choice, I really like picking up the excellent Wall of Fire! Good range, amazing AOE coverage, and solid damage make this a really potent spell for any encounter.

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Level 9

Spell Change Log: + Dimension Door + Wall of Stone

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Sorcerous Burst
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Magic Missile
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern
4th Level Spell	Dimension Door
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
4th Level Spell	Wall of Fire
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone

For your spell choices, you get to pick up Dimension Door and Wall of Stone.

Dimension Door is one of the best teleportation spells in the game as you can get pretty far without even seeing your destination, something generally reserved for higher level spells. Since you can also take someone with you, this is excellent for infiltrations, escapes, or repositioning on a big battlefield with a friend.

Wall of Stone is definitely a bit at odds with Wall of Fire, but I like having both options. Where Wall of Fire is better at incinerating goons while you deal with one big boss, Wall of Stone is better at separating stronger enemies from one another to give you more time to work on one. As the slabs from Wall of Stone are pretty hearty, it should take most enemies at least an action or two to break through.

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Level 10

Class Features: Metamagic (Subtle Spell)

Spell Change Log: + Elementalism + Absorb Elements

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Elementalism
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Sorcerous Burst
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Magic Missile
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern
4th Level Spell	Dimension Door
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
4th Level Spell	Wall of Fire
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone

Level 10 brings your your third Metamagic feature, final cantrip choice, and another spell!

For your third Metamagic feature, I personally like Subtle Spell. Being able to spellcast without giving away that it’s you casting the spell can be really powerful in situations where you need to be covert. Furthermore, many anti-magic measures like Silence or Counterspell don’t work against Subtle Spell giving additional utility there.

For your final cantrip, as you already have all the ones you’re realistically interested in, I like picking up Elementalism. It is a worse Prestidigitation, but it has enough differences to make this a solid option.

For your spell choice, I like picking up a first level spell, Absorb Elements! Large chunks of elemental damage is going to become more common as you enter the later levels, so having some means to defend against it is extremely welcome.

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Level 11

Spell Change Log: + Mass Suggestion

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Elementalism
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Sorcerous Burst
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Magic Missile
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern
4th Level Spell	Dimension Door
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
4th Level Spell	Wall of Fire
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone
6th Level Spell	Mass Suggestion

Level 11 is yet another easy level up as the only sixth level spell I’m very interested in is Mass Suggestion. Suggestion is incredible, and being able to possibly do that to TWELVE targets is extremely powerful.

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Level 12

Feat: Charisma to 20

Spell Change Log: None

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Elementalism
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Sorcerous Burst
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Magic Missile
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern
4th Level Spell	Dimension Door
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
4th Level Spell	Wall of Fire
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone
6th Level Spell	Mass Suggestion

You’re now at the point where you aren’t getting a new spell every level, and this spell list is very well rounded so no changes needed at this point.

For your ASI, it’s time to max out your Charisma for the strongest possible spells, plain and simple.

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Level 13

Spell Change Log: – Magic Missile / + Crown of Stars + Teleport

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Elementalism
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Sorcerous Burst
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern
4th Level Spell	Dimension Door
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
4th Level Spell	Wall of Fire
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone
6th Level Spell	Mass Suggestion
7th Level Spell	Crown of Stars
7th Level Spell	Teleport

Level 13 means seventh level spells!

While it’s a shame to part with old reliable, I believe it’s time to swap out Magic Missile to get two seventh level spells immediately – Crown of Stars and Teleport.

I like getting both of these spells immediately as they have wildly different use cases. Crown of Stars is a damage spell that can be set up ahead of time, requires no concentration, and deals pretty solid damage making it an awesome option for a tougher encounter. Teleport, on the other hand, is going to be used mostly for long distance travel, but also as an escape option some amount of the time. Having both means your seventh level slot wouldn’t be languishing waiting for the opportunity to Teleport as you’d pick that over Crown of Stars if you didn’t swap anything out.

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Level 14

Class Features: Shadow Walk

Spell Change Log: None

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Elementalism
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Sorcerous Burst
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern
4th Level Spell	Dimension Door
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
4th Level Spell	Wall of Fire
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone
6th Level Spell	Mass Suggestion
7th Level Spell	Crown of Stars
7th Level Spell	Teleport

While no spell changes are happening at this level, you do get a subclass feature with Shadow Walk. When in dim light or darkness, you get bonus action long range teleportation. This is obviously very strong in the right conditions as free teleportation is excellent when you’re being pressure by enemies.

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Level 15

Spell Change Log: + Dominate Monster

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Elementalism
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Sorcerous Burst
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern
4th Level Spell	Dimension Door
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
4th Level Spell	Wall of Fire
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone
6th Level Spell	Mass Suggestion
7th Level Spell	Crown of Stars
7th Level Spell	Teleport
8th Level Spell	Dominate Monster

You now have access to eighth level spells, and the clear winner for all your Heightened spell needs is Dominate Monster. While this is an inherently risky spell to cast, getting two attempts at this one way or another (giving the target disadvantage on the saving throw) is really powerful. You do have to be careful about Legendary Resistances at this point, but if you don’t believe the monster you’re dealing with has them, this can instantly end an encounter and give you a new buddy for an hour!

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Level 16

Feat: Constitution to 18

Spell Change Log: None

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Elementalism
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Sorcerous Burst
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern
4th Level Spell	Dimension Door
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
4th Level Spell	Wall of Fire
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone
6th Level Spell	Mass Suggestion
7th Level Spell	Crown of Stars
7th Level Spell	Teleport
8th Level Spell	Dominate Monster

No spell changes and simply pumping Constitution to 18 for more health and better Concentration checks. A little boring, but hard to go wrong here.

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Level 17

Class Feature: Metamagic (Careful Spell)

Spell Change Log: + Wish

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Elementalism
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Sorcerous Burst
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern
4th Level Spell	Dimension Door
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
4th Level Spell	Wall of Fire
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone
6th Level Spell	Mass Suggestion
7th Level Spell	Crown of Stars
7th Level Spell	Teleport
8th Level Spell	Dominate Monster
9th Level Spell	Wish

You get your final Metamagic feature here, and I think Careful Spell is likely the best of the bunch. Being able to use a spell without worrying if your allies in the way is very nice, especially when using some of your real heavy hitters.

For your spell choice this level, it’s impossible to go wrong with Wish. Wish is just the best spell in the game. While it does come with inherent risk, such as not being able to cast it again, the things it can allow you to do are literally unparalleled. That said, I would use it only in case of emergencies unless you’re just replicating a weaker spell which comes at no penalty.

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Level 18

Class Features: Umbral Form

Spell Change Log: + Meteor Swarm

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Elementalism
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Sorcerous Burst
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern
4th Level Spell	Dimension Door
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
4th Level Spell	Wall of Fire
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone
6th Level Spell	Mass Suggestion
7th Level Spell	Crown of Stars
7th Level Spell	Teleport
8th Level Spell	Dominate Monster
9th Level Spell	Meteor Swarm
9th Level Spell	Wish

You get your final subclass feature with Umbral Form! For a lot of sorcery points and your bonus action, you can turn shadowy to gain resistance to nearly all damage types and you can move through creatures and objects. While this ability is good, this isn’t something I would want to use often as it is pretty pricey and may not even be useful in the average fight if enemies aren’t right up in your business. Still, this is a nice insurance policy to have if you are taking too much damage.

For your spell choice this level, you should pick up Meteor Swarm. This is fantastic with Careful spell to not hurt your allies and is the highest damage spell in the game. What’s not to like?

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Level 19

Epic Boon: Boon of Fate

Spell Change Log: + Gate

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Elementalism
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Sorcerous Burst
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern
4th Level Spell	Dimension Door
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
4th Level Spell	Wall of Fire
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone
6th Level Spell	Mass Suggestion
7th Level Spell	Crown of Stars
7th Level Spell	Teleport
8th Level Spell	Dominate Monster
9th Level Spell	Gate
9th Level Spell	Meteor Swarm
9th Level Spell	Wish

Level 19 always means an Epic Boon, and I like the universally good Boon of Fate. Being able to potentially turn a failure into a success and vice versa, even if it’s once per short or long rest, can be the difference between surviving an encounter and not.

For your spell choice, I’m going with Gate. This spell is super weird and you’ll only want it for niche scenarios, but being able to use it for extraplanar transport or to forcibly bring an extraplanar entity to you is really nice. Not many use cases, but really helpful when you need it.

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Level 20

Class Feature: Arcane Apotheosis

Spell Change Log: + Scatter

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Elementalism
Cantrip	Light (Aasimar)
Cantrip	Mage Hand
Cantrip	Minor Illusion
Cantrip	Prestidigitation
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Sorcerous Burst
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Feather Fall
1st Level Spell	Shield
1st Level Spell	Silvery Barbs
2nd Level Spell	Darkness (Shadow)
2nd Level Spell	Misty Step
2nd Level Spell	Suggestion
2nd Level Spell	Web
3rd Level Spell	Counterspell
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Hypnotic Pattern
4th Level Spell	Dimension Door
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
4th Level Spell	Wall of Fire
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone
6th Level Spell	Mass Suggestion
6th Level Spell	Scatter
7th Level Spell	Crown of Stars
7th Level Spell	Teleport
8th Level Spell	Dominate Monster
9th Level Spell	Gate
9th Level Spell	Meteor Swarm
9th Level Spell	Wish

Level 20 brings one more spell and your final class ability – Arcane Apotheosis.

With Arcane Apotheosis, while your Innate Sorcery is active, you get one Metamagic ability per turn for free. That is extremely strong and much better than the previous Sorcerous Restoration capstone. This is a really nice change!

The final spell choice is pretty difficult as you functionally have everything you would want at this point, but since you may as well choose, I’m a pretty big fan of Scatter. This spell is extremely versatile as you can use this to move allies and enemies alike around on the battlefield. Whether you need to make an escape, get allies to safety, or move enemies into hazardous areas, Scatter will get the job done.