Best Races for Sorcerer 5e
by Prince Phantom
As one of the strongest classes in the game, Sorcerers are already pretty well off. They aren’t super hungry for many feats like many other classes, they get most of the best parts of the Wizard spell list, metamagic, and a couple of truly stellar subclasses in Clockwork and Aberrant. The one area that most Sorcerers struggle in is their limited number of spells known, making any race that grants extra spells jump up significantly in our ratings. That being the case, I’ll separate this list into races that do grant extra spells and those who do not, and as always I exclude flying races and races who grant a feat at level 1. Though if you can play a flying race, Fairy literally fulfills everything a Sorcerer could ever want and is the clear front runner.
Best Races that Grant Extra Spells
Drow: Sunlight Sensitivity matters very little for spellcasters who don’t plan on making many attack rolls anyway, and we get a decent selection of spells in Dancing Lights, Faerie Fire, and Darkness. The bigger deal is that we have access to Drow High Magic, a racial feat that grants Detect Magic at will (fantastic since we don’t have ritual casting), Levitate, and Dispel Magic, meaning we can get a total of 6 extra spells from this race, more than any other. We also get all the other great things about being an elf, so this is a really tempting pick.
Githzerai/Githyanki: Both of these provide 2 spells, Zerai giving Shield and Detect Thoughts, and Yanki giving Jump and Misty Step. All of these spells are on the Sorcerer list, but getting a free casting and them prepped for free is very nice. Shield and Misty Step are spells that just about every Sorcerer wants to learn, so getting them from our race frees up a choice for a different spell. These also provide a few small benefits, but the spells are the big deal.
Genasi (Earth/Air): Both of these give some nice spells, and Earth gives a fun new way to use Blade Ward, greatly improving our durability. Air gives Shocking Grasp, Feather Fall, and Levitate, and I’m pretty happy with two of those three, but I think Pass Without Trace from Earth beats them out by itself. Still, both are good options, and miles better than what the other two Genasi offer.
Yuan-Ti: The only real spell you are getting here is Suggestion, but man, what a spell to get. Suggestion is a high priority pickup for Sorcerers, and we get Magic Resistance and Poison Resistance on top of that, making this race also a great choice for enhancing our defense.
Honorable Mention
The huge list of Tiefling Subraces: Most of these are hot trash, but depending on your build and the type of character you want to play, you might find a diamond in the rough here thanks to the wide variety of spells on offer. I highly doubt it, but giving these a quick glance won’t hurt.
Best Races that Don’t Provide Spells
Tortle: A lot of Sorcerers are very tempted to take a one level Hexblade dip to grab medium armor and shield proficiency, easily fixing this class’s AC problems, but if you refuse to multiclass than the Tortle does a fine job at that role as well. A flat 17 AC will be sufficient for the early and mid game, especially when we are casting Shield on top of that.
Warforged: This race instead gives a flat +1 to our AC, along with Poison Resistance and not needing to sleep unless we want to, opening up a lot of extra downtime potential. The extra tool proficiencies can be nice if we seek to find ways to use them as well. I’d look at this race if I was planning on taking that Hexblade dip, as this AC bump stacks with armor where the Tortle does not.
Dhampir: With the Sorcerer’s ability to focus on Constitution as a secondary stat, they make surprisingly good use of the Dhampir’s Bite, though it’s probably best used out of combat or to finish a weakened enemy off, healing ourselves or boosting a future skill check in the process. The Spider Climb is the bigger deal here, giving us an ability nearly as good as flight while also looking like the coolest dude in the room.
Autognome: Any race that grants an AC calculation of 13+Dex is a decent choice to help boost our defense, and the Autognome is definitely the best of those options. We get a skill check boost, Poison Resistance, the ability to heal ourselves with the Mending spell (an easy pickup for a Sorcerer with our 4 cantrips at level one). Lots of great stuff here, so much so that I think Sorcerer is one of the best classes for this race.
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