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Baldur's Gate 3

Best Storm Sorcerer Build for Baldur's Gate 3: Best Race, Spells & More

By
Craig Robinson

Sorcerers are some of the most useful casters for ramping damage in the game, with their access to various spell types and damage sources, combos with their meta magic. In Baldur’s Gate 3, however, the class only has three subclasses, with you having options of the Draconic Bloodline, Wild Magic, and Storm Sorcery. While Bloodline specializes in your character, and Wild Magic adds very unpredictable energy, the Storm Sorcery is consistent with its power and focus. Add in the fact Baldur’s Gate 3’s invulnerability system from wet conditions doubles frost and lightning damage, and you have yourself a very powerful focused specialization. So, rise up storm callers, as we explore the soon-to-be charted waters of this Baldur’s Gate 3 Sorcerer build.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Storm Sorcerer Build

Here is a look at one of the best Sorcerer Builds in Baldur’s Gate 3 using the Storm Sorcery Sub Class.

While this build is primarily a Storm Sorcery-focused build, it will multi-class into the Tempest Cleric as well. The reason for this is because it gives access to heavy armor and shields, which will make you tankier, which is very good as casters typically lack constitution as they level up, and place their points fairly often into Wisdom and Charisma for the party facing, and their own combat modifiers.

Moreso, at level 2 of the Tempest Cleric, you get access to its Channel Divinity, which is better than the 11th level Tempest passive feature bonus. Your Storm Sorc’s level 11 Heart of the Storm, only gives around 6 damage at level cap. Meanwhile, the Channel Divinity for Tempest at level 2 grants: “When you roll lightning or thunder damage, you can use your Channel Divinity to deal maximum damage, instead of rolling. So, you can guarantee your next casts will burst for the max damage.” So, it means that pretty much all Lightning Spells will out DPT (damage per turn) compared to the level 11 Storm Sorc passive when yo are allowed to utilize it.

Therefore, your level breakdown will look as follows:

  • Storm Sorcerer: 10 Levels
  • Tempest Cleric 2 levels

You will start the build as a Storm Sorcerer, then take your first two levels in Tempest Cleric. After that, you invest the rest of your spells into Sorcerer. This will somewhat delay your triple Sorc points till level 5, but, you will have access to meta magic by level 4, which is typically when you fight the harder bosses in act 1 anyway. So, you’re at least prepared for that.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Storm Sorcerer Spells

While you can have many learned spells as you level up, you will more than likely use these spells for your main damage casts. These are:

Spell Spell Type Damage roll
"Ray of Frost" iconRay of Frost Cantrip 1d-8
Create Water Cantrip Utility Spell
"Witch Bolt" iconWitch Bolt 1st Level 1d12 (concentration for another 1d12 following turn at least once)
"Lightning Bolt" iconLightning Bolt 3rd Level 8d6
"Chain Lightning" iconChain Lightning 6th Level 10d8 x4 (per target chained to.)

The idea is to set the battlefield up in wet conditions, using your create water cantrip from your Cleric multiclassing. In the following turns, you will use your spells, and then use meta magic to either extend the duration of the water effect, which typically lasts around three turns. Once your targets are wet, feel free to win spell your Witch Bolt for double damage. That does 1d12 x2 for the multi-targeting. You then want to double the damage because they are vulnerable, and so, you either deal 4-24 damage, or 8-48 damage when you twin spell. When you reactivate the concentration again, expect similar numbers for the second damage It’s quite a lot of damage in a turn when you think about it, and this is from level 4 onwards. When you level Soc up further, those damage numbers get even more crazier. This is a rough estimation of the type of damage you’re going to deal

  • Witch Bolt: 2-12 x2 for when you proc the concentration. 4-24 if they are wet x2 for when you concentration proc.
  • "Lightning Bolt" iconLightning Bolt: 16-48 - 32-96 if wet.
  • Chain Lightning: 20-80 damage per chain lightning 40-160 damage if they are wet. Multiply this by 4 if you hit four targets with it.

You also have access to the "Ray of Frost" iconRay of Frost cantrip. You’ll only use this is you’re out of Spell Slots, yet you will still deal competitive damage thanks to the vuln damage on frost skills with it. It won’t beat the likes of an "Eldritch Blast" iconEldritch Blast Warlock build, but it will still keep our numbers up reliably throughout a fight.

As for the remaining learned spells, these will likely be utility spells you can use when necessary, like Twin Spelling CC effects from whatever options you have and need.

Best Sorcerer Feats in Baldur’s Gate 3

The Best Feats for a Sorcerer in Baldur’s Gate 3 you can use in your build are as follows:

  • Elemental Adept: Your spells ignore "Resistance" iconResistance to a damage type of your choice. When you cast spells of that type, you cannot roll a 1.
  • War Caster: You gain Advantage on Saving "Throw" iconThrows to maintain Concentration on a spell. You can also use a reaction to cast "Shocking Grasp" iconShocking Grasp at a target moving out of melee range. Shocking Grasp is a lightning themed melee cantrip.
  • Spell Sniper: You learn a Cantrip, and the number you need to roll a critical hit while attacking is reduced by. This effect can stack.
  • Lucky - Re Roll ones from attacks, saving throws and certain ability checks.
  • Lightly Armored: Gain light armor proficiency and increase your Dexterity or Strength by one point, up to a max of 20.

Some of these you choose depend on the race yo go and niche you take in the party. But, if there’s any Baldur’s Gate 3 feat you do get here, please make sure its Elemental Adept for Lightning Damage

Best Race for the Storm Sorcerer Build in Baldur’s Gate 3

No matter what type of elemental damage you are speccing in, chances are the Dragonborn supports as the best Sorcerer race in BG3 for the resistances and starting ability synergy.

Now it is time for the best races for the Sorcerer in Baldur’s Gate 3. We’ve thrown in a few playstyles for those meta-gamed, or for some other potential niche playstyle and stat modifier options. Note the image is based on EA, and races have changed since then. So, we’ve updated the list below with the new changes in mind, and Larian’s new ability modifiers.

Also, it doesn’t really matter which type of half-elf you pick, so, choose the option of Drow, Wood, and High Elf and enjoy the look of your character a bit more than other potential races.

  • Light Foot Halfling: You have Lucky built in to help make bad rolls better. It’s slightly off-set by elemental adept, but it’s still useful.

  • "Gold" iconGold Dwarf: The other option you have is Gold Dwarf. Gold Dwarfs bonus of gaining a hit point per level helps for tankyness. If you want that more tanky heavy armor Storm Sorc playstyle, then, this can be a decent option for that niche.

  • Bronze and Blue Dragonborn: They come with lightning built into their race for better build synergy and cantrips.

This concludes the Baldur’s Gate 3 Sorcerer Build. You now know the best subclass, races, spells, and level priority to get this build going, along with other small facts that help the build-out.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Larian Studios
  • Platforms,
    Mac, PC, PS5, XB X|S
  • Genre
    Adventure, RPG
  • Guide Release
    6 April 2023
  • Last Updated
    14 June 2024
    Version History
  • Guide Author

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Baldur’s Gate 3 is an immersive roleplaying game set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. It features a rich story with multiple outcomes for almost every encounter, and plenty of character customization features including more races, classes, subclasses and party combinations than you are ever likely to explore. The seemingly endless possibilities and numerous choices that you can make throughout your journey make a helping hand always welcome, and that’s where we come in! This guide features the following:

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