Best Magic Items for Sorcerer in D&D 5e
The Sorcerer class is easily in the top 5 classes overall already, meaning you could play one with no support from magic items whatsoever and be perfectly fine. That being said, I encourage DMs to give out cool stuff anyway, because everyone loves getting cool stuff. There are a few weaknesses we can address, namely defense and utility, so we can look for items that assist in those areas.
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything did a lot to buff Sorcerers (a class that was already above average in power to begin with). Obviously, they got two amazing subclasses and a few extra metamagic options, along with an expanded spell list. What is less obvious is the amount of magic items introduced that are designed specifically for the class. These items are each shards associated with different planes of the D&D multiverse, and each confer different benefits. Let’s go over each of those first.
For each shard, they all require attunement and can all be used as a focus for your Sorcerer spells. They can also be attached to a weapon or piece of clothing so your hands are free for other things. There is also nothing saying you can’t attune to multiple of these at once. They each create a special effect immediately after you cast a spell that you used any metamagic option on. Also note that you can use these effects even if the spell fails. For example, a humanoid that succeeds on their save against Hold Person can still be set on fire by the Fire Essence Shard.
Astral Shard (Rare): This simple shard allows you to teleport 30ft immediately after you use any metamagic. This is great for navigating difficult terrain or AoE spell effects, escaping melee range or restraints, and just as an extra 30ft of movement on a lot of your turns. One of the better options for sure.
Far Realm Shard (Rare): This forces a Charisma save against 3d6 damage and the frightened condition until the start of your next turn. Note that this does no damage on a successful save. Charisma is a pretty weak save for most monsters, and the frightened condition is potent, but the duration is very low and so is the damage. Not my first pick for a shard.
Feywild Shard (Uncommon): This item adds a touch of wild magic to the other Sorcerer subclasses, and straight up fixes the actual Wild Magic subclass. It lets other sublclasses roll on the table once per day after using any metamagic, and lets the Wild Magic Sorcerer do that an unlimited number of times per day. If you or your DM think that rolling on the table at every possible opportunity is too much, but want to roll more than the subclass would naturally provide, I think this is a great middle ground. Definitely not an inherently powerful shard, but for my money, easily the most fun.
Outer Essence Shards (Rare): There are four of these, and each represents a different area of alignment.
Lawful: After casting the spell, you can end one of the following conditions on you or an ally: Charmed, Frightened, Blinded, Deafened, Poisoned, or Stunned. Notably missing from this list is Paralyzed, which is probably the condition you would be most eager to remove. This is very situational, but it’s nice to have when the situation arises.
Chaotic: This gives one target of your spell disadvantage on all attack rolls and ability checks until your next turn. This is a fantastic combo with spells that require an ability check like Telekinesis, but is also just a generally good debuff overall.
Good: This gives out 3d6 temporary HP to you or an ally. Nice to have for sure, but very low impact compared to its competitors.
Evil: This is just a flat 3d6 damage to one target of the spell. If extra damage is what you want, this is exactly that. Not my personal first pick, but if I had this and one of the movement shards I’d be pretty happy.
Shadowfell Shard (Rare): This is perhaps the most powerful shard of them all. It works by cursing one ability score of one target of your spell, forcing disadvantage on ability checks and SAVING THROWS for that ability. Imposing disadvantage on saving throws is very rare in this game, and normally difficult to set up. This debuff lasts until the end of your next turn, giving both you and your allies ample time to take advantage of this weakness and cast plenty of spells that target that ability. Could I interest you in a Hold Monster perhaps?
Elemental Essense Shards (Rare): There are four of these, each for the different elemental planes.
Air: This grants a burst of 60ft of flight immediately after using a metamagic, and this movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks. This is in some ways better than the Astral Shard, and in some ways worse. Overall, I’d rate the two very similarly.
Earth: After using a metamagic, you get resistance to a damage type of your choice until the next turn. I rate this lower than Air and Astral, as I’d rather get completely away from danger, rather than try to tank it.
Fire: This makes a target of your metamagic’d spell take 2d10 fire damage at the start of its next turn. Free damage is free damage, but in comparison to these other options, this is definitely lacking.
Water: After your spell, this creates a 10ft radius wave centered on you that forces a strength save to push enemies 10ft away, and deals 2d6 cold damage. Again, the damage is low and the push isn’t guaranteed to be enough for you to escape retaliation on the enemy’s turn. Not a desirable shard at all.
Bloodwell Vial (Rarity Varies, Attunement)
This item grants a bonus to your spell attack rolls and spell save DCs depending on its rarity, but more importantly, grants an extra 5 Sorcery Points once per day whenever you roll Hit Dice to regain HP. This fixes one of the Sorcerer’s greatest issues; too few points and too much we want to spend them on. Note that these 5 points are added even if you are less than 5 levels in Sorcerer and couldn’t normally hold that many. Every Sorcerer would love to have this item.
As two of your attunement slots will likely be taken up by a Bloodwell Vial and a Shard, I will be rating non-attunement items much higher for the Sorcerer, as you will likely have to be very picky with your last slot.
Uncommon:
Barrier Tattoo (Attunement): Any of the three rarities this item comes in will provide a significant boost to a Sorcerer’s AC, though taking a level dip in something like Hexblade for armor is a viable and more reliable solution to that problem, especially since those dips will likely provide shield proficiency as well.
Pearl of Power (Attunement): This item lets you recover a spell slot of 3rd level or lower, which is great for any spellcaster but especially nice for Sorcerers. Thanks to your ability to convert spell slots into Sorcery Points, you can use this each day to get an extra pool of points. If you have ample time in the morning, you can attune to this, convert a 3rd level slot into points, recover the slot, then attune to a different item if you have one you’d rather have while actually adventuring.
Winged Boots (Attunement): Concentration free, essentially at-will flight is crazy strong on a full caster. Definitely a worthwhile place to put your last attunement slot.
Rare Items:
Amulet of Health (Attunement): Setting your Constitution to a flat 19 should provide a nice bump to both your HP and concentration saves. There are better defensive items, but this is a fine filler until you get something better, and is easily handed off to another party member.
Cloak of Displacement (Attunement): This is another option for boosting defenses. Take note however that imposing disadvantage on attacks doesn’t help much when your AC is 13 and the monsters have a +10 to hit. This is best when stacked with an armor dip.
Elven Chain: If you are totally against taking any armor dips, find this item. It likely sets your AC at 16, easily outclassing Mage Armor, yet still worse than an armor dip. At least it doesn’t require attunement.
All of the Staves that grant extra spells (All require Attunement): There are a ton of these, and they all grant a number of charges each day that can be spent to cast select spells. The Sorcerer’s main issue is a low number of spells known, so adding to that list with magic items and getting free castings of those spells is amazing. My personal favorites are the Staff of Defense for Shield and the Spider Staff for Web and Spider Climb. The Very Rare Staves of Fire, Frost, Power, and the Voyager Staff are fantastic items as well.
Very Rare Items:
Nimbus Coronet (Attunement): This is both a flight and defensive item in one, though only being able to invoke it once per day does limit this somewhat. The infinite bonus action 15ft teleports definitely makes up for that slight downside.
Robe of Scintillating Colors (Attunement): This is another great defensive item, essentially an upgraded Cloak of Displacement. The additional chance to stun foes is a great cherry on top. Just be careful not to stun your friends.
Legendary Items:
Jester’s Mask (Attunement): The biggest draw is the +3 to our spell save DC, though the other features are nice too.
Robe of the Archmagi (Attunement): This is every arcane caster’s dream item. You get a great armor class, magical resistance, and a +2 to our spell save DC.
Staff of the Magi (Attunement): And this is the other item that arcane casters dream of. Getting this will likely double your overall spellcasting potential. Easily the best of the best.
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