The Storm Sorcerer is a type of spellcasting class playable in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. It harnesses the powers of one of the strongest and most mysterious elements- lightning, thunder, and wind- to become a force of nature on the battlefield.
In this guide, we will explore in-depth how to build your own Storm Sorcerer, including which Races to take, Ability Score investment, and strategies for playing both in combat and during roleplay.
Building your Storm Sorcerer build
Choosing a Race
The Race you choose is going to determine a number of important factors for your character. First, it will determine your inherent strengths and advantages that other players and NPCs may not necessarily have, even as the same class.
Second, you will have a unique perspective on the world you play in based on your Race, as it will influence your background, how you view the world, and how the world reacts to your existence. While every Race brings something unique to the table, some are better for an optimized Storm Sorcerer build than others.
Best Race Pick- High Elf
The High Elf is our current best pick for building a Storm Sorcerer. High Elves are a natural fit for Storm Sorcerers due to their innate connection to magic, their bonuses to Dexterity and Intelligence, and their proficiencies with longbows.
Dexterity will buff your Armor Class, initiative, and ranged weapon attacks while Intelligence will receive a nice padding to its number since we will not invest too much into the stat overall. For early on in a campaign or for prolonged battles, having proficiency in a longbow will be helpful in case you are out of spells.
Second Best Race Pick- Tiefling
The second best pick for a Storm Sorcerer, and a personal favorite, is the Tiefling. If the High Elf is not your cup of tea, the Tiefling will get you just as far with the potential to even surpass the High Elf Storm Sorcerer if the right conditions are met. The Tiefling gains infernal heritage, offering a lot of flavor to your background as well as an inherent resistance to fire damage.
You also gain Hellish Rebuke, a powerful cantrip that can act as a “get off me” attack to create space and harm enemies. Lastly, the Tiefling gains a bonus to Charisma, which is your primary spellcasting stat as a Sorcerer, so early bonuses will pay off at any point in the campaign.
Third Best Race Pick – Gnome
While not equipped with the same inherent advantages that the previous two Races have, the Gnome can be a great choice for a more unique build.
As a Gnome, you will gain an Intelligence boost, which is great for the same reasons the High Elf was chosen, plus your Gnome Cunning trait will grant advantages on saving throws against spells, enhancing your resilience in combat and offering ways to survive magic duels.
Step 2- Allocating Ability Scores
Once you have chosen your Race, it is time to allocate your Ability Scores. Whether you use point buy, dice roll, or some other method, your Ability Scores will be determined prior to receiving any bonuses, and it is your job to assign values to the proper stats.
You will want to put high priority into the following three stats, in descending order, to maximize your character’s potential.
Highest Priority – Charisma
Charisma is going to be your most important Ability Score as a Storm Sorcerer. This is because it is your primary spellcasting stat, so the strength and effectiveness of your spells and abilities will be determined by this single Ability Score.
As a secondary bonus to investing in Charisma, you will be able to persuade others in roleplay due to your inherently charming personality and eloquence with words. Not only will you be a powerful spellcaster, but you will become a powerful speaker too, allowing you to skip in spells that take control of others if you find yourself competent enough to talk your way through situations.
Second Pick – Constitution
As a spellcaster, you will have lower-than-average defenses and health. Because of this, you are much more likely to die within the first 5 levels of your campaign than most of the rest of your adventure. Investing in Constitution will remedy this by enhancing your Hit Points and overall survival rate. A higher initial health total will also remedy any low rolls early game when leveling up and increasing your health pool.
Final Option – Dexterity
As a final Ability Score to focus on, consider investing in Dexterity. Like Constitution, Dexterity supports your defenses by increasing your Armor Class.
Your initiative rolls will also appreciate a bonus from a high Dexterity, so if you care about going first as often as possible in combat, invest in Dexterity. Lastly, you will have more success with ranged weapon attacks such as with a longbow, which was previously mentioned to support your low spell ammunition early on.
Step 3 – Take “Storm Sorcery” for your Sorcerous Origin
Starting at Sorcerer level 1, you gain access to your Sorcerous Origin, granting various bonuses tailored to your magic casting style.
“Storm Sorcery,” which can be found in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything or other means, grants players a new language, brief moments of flight, resistances, and overall control of the weather.
As a Storm Sorcerer, your abilities cap out by Sorcerer level 18, so if you are considering multiclassing but want to maximize your main class, keep in mind you will only be able to take 2 levels into whatever second class you are interested in.
Exploring the Stone Sorcerer’s Abilities
Wind Speaker
As soon as you take “Storm Sorcery” as your Sorcerous Origin, you gain Wind Speaker, which grants you the ability to read, speak, and write Primordial, the language of the elements themselves. You understand and are understood by those that speak all of the dialects of Primordial, so there are no limits in speech with others.
Tempestuous Magic
Starting at Sorcerer level 1, you can use your bonus action on your turn to create whirling gusts of elemental air to briefly surround you. The gusts are strong enough to lift you up to 10 feet in the air without provoking opportunity attacks from nearby enemies. This can be done before or after you cast a spell.
Heart of the Storm
By Sorcerer level 6, you start to tap into the fearsome nature of your subclass. You gain resistance to lightning and thunder damage, plus whenever you cast a lightning or thunder spell of at least 1st level, you may target creatures of your choice within view and 10 feet of you.
The targets are hit by an eruption of magic that spurs from within you, dealing your choice of either lightning or thunder damage to the creatures equal to half your Sorcerer level.
Storm Guide
Also at Sorcerer level 6, you start to learn how to control the weather around you. If there is rain, you may use an action to cause the rain in a 20-foot radius, centered on you, to stop falling. As a bonus action, you may end this effect at any time. Additionally, if it is windy, every round you may use a bonus action to change the direction the wind blows in.
The range is a 100-foot radius sphere, centered on you. The wind will reset at the end of your next turn and does not affect the speed of the wind. Talk with your DM often about weather effects so that you can maximize this ability’s features.
Storm’s Fury
Once you reach Sorcerer level 14, you gain a new reaction option. Whenever you are hit with a melee attack, you may deal lightning damage back to them equal to your Sorcerer level. This effect is automatic with no rolls; however, the target must also make a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC. Upon failure, the attacker is pushed in a straight line up to 20 feet away from you.
Wind Soul
The finale of the Storm Sorcerer’s skillset. At Sorcerer level 18, you become immune to lightning and thunder damage. You also gain the ability to fly, with a magical speed of 60 feet. You may take an action to reduce your flying speed by half for 1 hour. Doing so allows you to choose creatures within 30 feet of you equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.
All chosen creatures are granted the same magical flying speed of 30 feet for 1 hour. After 1 hour, your flying speed returns to 60 feet, your allies lose the ability to fly, and you cannot repeat the process until you finish a short or long rest.
Combat Strategies
In combat, you will want to strategize with your table about how to be the most effective force you can be. Your subclass offers a healthy mix of support and offensive abilities, but since you do not gain any unique spells, be sure to take as many lightning and thunder spells as you can to maximize on Heart of the Storm.
Battlefield Control
As one with nature, you can utilize your spell selection and abilities to control the battlefield around you. Thunderwave can push enemies away, create obstacles, or disrupt enemy formations while Heart of the Storm procs with each cast.
Battlefield control directly equates to controlling the flow of combat, and successfully doing so will prevent a collapse of enemies at bad times
Elemental Synergy
Your class synergizes with stormy weather better than any other class. Exploit your elemental spells to maximize their strength, such as casting Call Lightning during a storm or Gust of Wind during windy seasons, giving a much-appreciated boost to these attacks.
Alternatively, you can negate the negative effects of storms with your control over the weather, so utilize whichever format is best for your table.
Roleplay Strategies
Dungeons and Dragons is more roleplay than it is combat and as a Storm Sorcerer, you are able to play into your class abilities for roleplay purposes just as much as your combat purposes. Here, we will discuss some strategies to help prompt getting into character with your table and Dungeon Master.
Embrace the Storm Theme
Lean into the theme of your character as one who controls the storms. Add flavor to your mannerisms and actions by noting when you show lightning or how the wind bends around your body when it moves. Describe your intent with elements used in your language, or perhaps tie the storms into your backstory as a show of power or origins.
Moral Dilemmas
As a Storm Sorcerer, you embody some moral dilemmas for other NPCs and maybe even other players. The weather is meant to be a natural phenomenon or it could be a sign of an omen or blessing. As someone that controls the weather, you can bend these principles to your will or even break them entirely.
Depending how you approach and showcase your powers, the people around you will have to react accordingly and treat you based on their insights and beliefs. Embrace these opportunities rather than shying away from them and allow your table to join in on the roleplay fun.
Conclusion on Storm Sorcerer 5e build
That covers our guide on how to build a Storm Sorcerer in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. We went over build paths, your subclass abilities and features, and strategies for playing to your maximum capacity.
Be sure to check in with your table to ensure your actions will actually be effective as well as to keep the roleplay fresh, but also take the initiative to be yourself and create your own unique character. As a Storm Sorcerer, you will dominate the battlefield and become a force of nature yourself.
While some characters go wherever the wind takes them, you will take the wind with you wherever you go, directing it as a breeze or a gust. With lightning as your tool, take your favorite set of dice and have fun in your campaigns.