Wild Magic Sorcerer Build (2024)

In this post, I will go through the Wild Magic Sorcerer Build for Baldur's Gate 3. Using the Wild Magic and weave we will be able to create random effects that can create chaos on the battlefield. This can be both positive, negative, and especially fun, creating situations where everyone turns to sheep, or a cambion appears out of nowhere

Wild Magic Sorcerer Build

From the start, I will inform you that the Wild Magic subclass has a few problems:

1. It's not the most powerful in terms of damage, so if you want the highest possible damage check other Sorcerer builds
2. Wild Magic comes truly to life only at level 11, until then you are mostly a generic sorcerer, with some rare effects.
3. There will be a lot of randomness

Now as we cleared these things, the build is AWESOME, if you are looking to have a fun playthrough. A group of enemies turning to Sheep? Enemy spellcaster uses a spell and you and a cambion drop on them? That's just the beginning.

Of course, Wild Magic Surge can sometimes lead to negative effects even for you, but that is part of the fun with this build. So if you enjoy chaos, embrace Wild Magic and take this subclass. Tides of Chaos allows you to save a spellcast if you are about to miss. A reaction appears allowing to choose if you wish to activate it

In addition, we will still get all the cool sorcerer stuff of Sorcery points and metamagic. Moreover, we can freely take any spells that we want. This means that Sorcerer does not need to stay with specific elements compared to other Sorcerer subclasses. They are limited to which ancestry they picked or Lightning attacks.

So if you would like to see some fun stuff, let's go!

Unique Wild Magic Surge effects

Wild Magic comes with a lot of random effects. Unfortunately, they will not activate as often. However, from level 11 this will drastically increase, as every spell can trigger this effect. So no more need to wait for a perfect dice roll

• Wild Magic: Blur - this ability allows to blur the body of every creature in the vicinity, making it harder to hit the blurred targets.
• Wild Magic: Burning - Each creature and item within 6m / 20ft of the caster starts Burning and takes 1d6 Fire damage per turn for 5 turns.
• Wild Magic: Cats and Dogs - Each creature within 9m is randomly transformed into either a cat or a dog.
• Wild Magic: Enchant Weapons - magically empower the weapons of every nearby creature, allowing them to make one powerful strike.
• Wild Magic: Enlarge/Reduce - Each creature within 9m is randomly Enlarged or Reduced.
• Wild Magic: Entangle - Create a vine surface around yourself, slowing down creatures, possibly Entangling them.
• Wild Magic: Explosive Healing - heal every creature in an area whenever they cast a Level 1 Spell or higher.
• Wild Magic: Fog - create a fog around themselves that Blinds every creature inside it.
• Wild Magic: Resilient Sphere - Enclosed in an arcane sphere. The affected entity can't be damaged by attacks or effects from outside the sphere, nor can it damage anything outside the sphere. Movement speed halved.
• Wild Magic: Shield - increase your Armour Class by 5. You take no damage from Magic Missile.
• Wild Magic: Slow - You are Slowed.
• Wild Magic: Sorcery Points - Until the end of your next turn, each spell you cast restores Sorcery Points equal to its Spell Slot level.
• Wild Magic: Summon Mephit - summon Mephits that attack every creature in the area.
• Wild Magic: Swap - teleport to a creature's location when they cast a Cantrip or a 1st Level Spell.
• Wild Magic: Telekinesis - Able to lift and throw objects and creatures with your mind until the end of your turn.
• Wild Magic: Teleport - teleport to a nearby location with a bonus action.
• Wild Magic: Turn Magic - At the start of each turn, for 5 turns, trigger a random magical effect (from the list of Wild Magic Surge Effects).
• Wild Magic: Water - Spawn a water puddle around the caster.

Short overview

This is a short overview and progression of the build. Use it to get a quick glance if you want to pick the best options without going deep into the explanations. A more detailed description with texts, suggestions, and improvements can be found in the next sections.

Draconic Wild Magic leveling overview

Level	Category	Choice
1	Abilities	Str 8, Dex 16 (15+1), Con 14, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 17 (15+2)
	Class	Sorcerer 1
	Cantrips	Friends, Minor Illusion, Fire bolt, Ray of Frost
	Spells	Magic Missiles, Mage Armour
	Subclass	Wild Magic
	Skills	Athletics, Acrobatics, Intimidation, Persuasion, Performance
2	Class	Sorcerer 2
	Spells	Thunderwave
	Class Passives	Metamagic: Twinned Spell, Metamagic: Distant Spell
3	Class	Sorcerer 3
	Spells	Scorching Ray
	Class Passives	Metamagic: Quickened Spell
4	Class	Sorcerer 4
	Cantrips	Bone Chill
	Spells	Shield
	Feat	Ability Improvement - Charisma +2
5	Class	Sorcerer 5
	Spells	Lightning Bolt
	Replace Spell	Thunderwave -> Haste
6	Class	Sorcerer 6
	Spells	Slow
7	Class	Sorcerer 7
	Spells	Ice Storm
	Replace Spell	Scorching Ray -> Counterspell
8	Class	Sorcerer 8
	Spells	Banishment
	Feat	Spell Sniper
9	Class	Sorcerer 9
	Spell	Insect Plague
10	Class	Sorcerer 10
	Cantrips	Blade Ward
	Spells	Telekinesis
	Class Passives	Metamagic: Heightened Spell
11	Class	Sorcerer 11
	Spells	Chain Lightning
12	Class	Sorcerer 12
	Spells	Disintegrate
	Feat	Lucky

Starting the Game

We start with the early game. I would go into what are the best Races, Abilities, and Skills for Wild Magic Sorcerers. Some of these choices are impactful as you cannot respec them.

Races

Picking a race provides various benefits - abilities, dialogue options, looks, etc. I think races that have shield proficiency really benefit the Sorcerer build.

If you are having difficulties making a choice, pick whatever you prefer in terms of looks or roleplay. "The perfect race pick" is important if you are min-maxing or doing a Tactician run.

Race	Features	Description
High Half-Elf	Civil Militia - You have weapon proficiency with Spears, Pikes, Halberds, and Glaives, and Armour Proficiency with Light Armour and Shield Darkvision - Grant a creature the ability to see in the dark out to a range of 12m. Fey Ancestry - You haveAdvantage on Saving Throws against being Charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep.	I think this is the "optimal" choice. High Half-Elfs get a cantrip, Darkvision, and also shield proficiency. More or less everything that you need for a good Sorcorer
Human	Civil Militia - You have weapon proficiency with Spears, Pikes, Halberds, and Glaives, and Armour Proficiency with Light Armour and Shield Human Versatility - Select and additional Skill to be proficient in. Your carrying capacity is increased by a quarter	This is one of the rare occasions where I would recommend going with a human. You can get Shield proficiency that will be valuable throughout the game for various bonuses and increased Armour class.
Githyanki	Martial Prodigy - A lifetime of relentless training gave you Armour Proficiency with Light and Medium Armour, as well as Proficiency with the Shortsword, Longsword, and Greatsword	They have a few unique actions like Misty Step and Psyonic Jump. Moreover, they get Medium armor proficiency for higher AC.

Class

We start the build with Sorcerer. First, it will give us Constitution Saving Throw proficiency. Second, we want to get level 3 spells as soon as possible. They have very powerful options like Lightning Bolt. After that we can dip into Cleric.

Overview
Sorcerer
Features
Spell Slots	These can be used to cast spells and are restored each long rest.

Cantrips

The sorcerer gets 4 cantrips. This is a lot, allowing us to make some good choices:

Cantrips	Description
Friends	If you are the main character and do most of the dialogues, this is also a good choice as it gives an advantage during rolls.
Fire bolt	Use this cantrip to deal moderate damage or light up barrels with oil. Perfect if you want to save spell slots. Note: Take this Fire bolt even if you have the one from elf or half-elf. The other scales with Intelligence and we need Charisma
Shocking Grasp	A close-range spell that can be used to damage enemies in case they come too close
Minor Illusion	Lure enemies together from stealth with the cantrip. Then use Shatter, Thudnerwave, or any other area of effect spell, to deal huge damage.

Spells

Sorcerers cannot prepare spells. This means that what they choose during the level-up screen - is what they can use. This can easily cause paralysis especially if you are new to the game. Here are my recommendations for what to pick early:

Spells	Description
Magic Missile	I really recommend this spell. It is not very powerful, but it can hit multiple enemies and does not miss. You can easily finish off a straggler with a few HP and damage the second foe
Mage Armour	This spell will give us 13 Armour Class. Pair this with a dexterity bonus and we have 16 Armour Class at the start of the game. The same as a heavy armor user. Moreover, getting a shield will also net 18.

Subclass

Overview
Wild Magic
Features
Tides of Chaos	Activate to gain an Advantage on your next Attack Roll, Ability Check, or Saving Throw. Increased chance of Wild Magic surge afterward.
Wild Magic	Wild Magic stems from the forces of chaos. It churns within the sorcerers that wield it, waiting to burst free. Each time you cast a Spell of level 1 or higher, your magic might surge and trigger a random magical effect.

Abilities

Now let's take a look at the abilities of the Sorcadin build. Correct allocation will allow us to maximize the early gameplay and get good modifier bonuses.

Ability	Value	Description
Strength	8	We do not need strength as we will not be in close range often.
Dexterity	16 (15+1)	High dexterity will give a bonus Armour Class and higher initiative. This can be used to go first during combat encounters and take out a few enemies before they get to do anything.
Constitution	14	The constitution will give us bonus HP and increase the success of Constitution Saving Throws
Intelligence	8	Not really important stat for us
Wisdom	10	We get 10, to not get any negative modifier for Wisdom Saving Throws, as there are many of them.
Charisma	17 (15+2)	The main ability of Sorcer build. It determines our spell success, and spell difficulty. Moreover, it is used for many dialogue checks, ensuring that you can trick or persuade NPCs.

Skills and Expertise

Overall, the skills should be impacted by your roleplaying and background decisions. However, you would still want those that will give you the best benefits. My recommendations are to pick those at which you have a high ability modifier:

• Acrobatics
• Persuasion
• Deception
• Performance
• Intimidation

Detailed Leveling Progression

Here is the detailed progression for the build to get you started. You can use it as a guideline because early games can be daunting and overwhelming. Later on, once you get the feel for the class you can start picking your own options

Level 2

Instantly at level 2, we get a lot of improvements. First, the Sorcerer gets an additional level 1 spell slot, and 2 Sorcery points are added. They can be used for creating spell slots, additional spellcasting, etc.

Actions	Description
Create Sorcery Points	Spend Spell Slots to gain Sorcery Points. Once you get some more metamagic options, you could sacrifice spell slots, to cast two spells in one turn or increase your range
Create Spell Slot	Spend Sorcery Points to unlock a Spell Slot. You could create a higher tier spell slot, to increase the damage over what you can at the current level

Spells

My recommendation for the spells to be included in the spellbook:

Spells	Description
Thunderwave	Do you see an enemy close to the ledge? Or they are close to you? Use Thunderwave to knock them back and deal thunder damage. It can instantly kill foes that are thrown from the ledge.

Class Passives

Sorcerers get access to unique actions - metamagic. They allow to consumption of sorcery points to enhance spellcasting. New metamagic options will be unlocked as we level up as you have more and more Sorcery Points.

Passives	Description
Metamagic: Twinned Spell	Spells that only target 1 creature can target an additional creature. Later on, you can use this to apply Haste on two allies
Metamagic: Distant Spell	Increase the range of spells by 50%. You can easily now avoid the penalty for the lack of range if this situation happens when spellcasting

Level 3

We unlock the level 2 spell slots and spells. We also gain another option for metamagic, this time much better

Spells and Replace Spell

Because we get level 2 spells it gets interesting. Although there is no "all-powerful" spell at this level, there are multiple ones that are decent. I would like to recommend a few that you can pick from:

Spells	Description
Scorching Ray	Oh, baby! This spell will get very powerful as we level up. For now, it is a decent one, and can definitely be used to target multiple enemies. However, from level 6, it will start wrecking foes
Shatter	Deals Thunder damage in a decent area of effect.
Cloud of Daggers	A powerful spell to control a specific choke point or hit multiple enemies close together. The important mechanic is that this hits 2 times - first, when casting, and second when the enemy turn starts

I do not recommend replacing any spells yet, as all of them still serve a purpose.

Class Passives

We are getting another metamagic selection. The good thing is that two new options are introduced. Here is my recommendation:

Passives	Description
Metamagic: Quickened Spell	By consuming 3 Sorcery points a spell can be cast using bonus action instead of action points. You can cast two damage spells one after another. Or later, you could use Haste and then two spells at the same turn. This unlocks tactical possibilities.

Level 4

We get our first Feat selection that will greatly improve both offense and defense. The Sorcerer also unlocks another level 2 spell slot and can select an additional spell.

Cantrips

We can choose another cantrip. Here is my recommendation:

Cantrips	Description
Bone Chill	Can be useful in some encounters as you can disable enemy healing and greatly weaken undead enemies.

Spells

Spells	Description
Shield	I cannot stress enough how powerful this spell is. You can use the level 1 spell slot, to increase your armour class by 5. The result is that you can avoid most of the attacks during the turn.

Feat

For the first Feat, there is nothing much to recommend. You really only want to improve your ability score for a higher spell success chance and more damage

Feat	Description
Ability Improvement	Allocate 2 ability points to Charisma. This will increase the modifier by 1 resulting in higher spell success.

Level 5

And we finally reach level 3 spells. Moreover, we get 2 level 3 spell slots for upcasting.

Spells

There are a lot of good spells at this tier, so it's hard to choose what to pick. You should choose one hard hitter that will be your bread and butter for damage dealing:

Spells	Description
Fireball	A very powerful and trustworthy fire spell. You can hit enemies in a decent area of effect for 8d6 damage. At the next level, it will also get a little damage boost
Lightning Bolt	A lightning spell that hits all enemies in a direct line. Try to get the best position possible to hit as many foes as you can. Moreover, wet enemies with party members for double damage.

Replace Spell

Because we also unlock Haste, I would try getting it as soon as possible. I recommend removing Thunderwave:

Spells	Description
Haste	A very powerful spell that gives an additional action point. In a sense, you can cast two spells. Add Metamagic: Quickened Spell, and you can cast 3 spells per turn! Adding Metamagic: Twinned Spell allows you to cast for both yourself and an ally.

Level 6

We gain an additional level 3 spell slot and reach new subclass features

Action	Description
Bend Luck	When a creature you can see makes an Attack Roll, Ability Check, or a Saving Throw, you can use your reaction and spend 2 Sorcery Points to roll 1d4, applying the number rolled as a bonus or penalty (your choice) to the creature's roll.

Spells

We are still able to choose between level 3 spells. I would definitely recommend Counterspell. However, at the current level, our build does not have enough crowd-control spells. For this reason, choose one of the below:

Spells	Description
Fear	Totally disables enemies and forces them to run away. The spell is very good. However, it has a medium range and is cast in cone radius. That requires you to come close to the enemy so its usage is limited.
Slow	You can target up to 6 foes to slow them down. If most of them succeed the combat will become drastically easier and you can overwhelm almost anyone
Hypnotic Pattern	Hypnotize a huge area of creatures. This can easily disable enemies for two turns allowing you to focus fire on a few foes, before moving to the next ones.
Sleet Storm	Interrupts enemy spell concentration, creates Ice surface that forces enemies to trip or jump, to waste their resources. What is important is that after one turn the Ice becomes water, making those who stand in it wet. This can be exploited for double cold or lightning damage. I would recommend picking this if you chose Lightning Bolt

Level 7

We reach level 4 spells. Besides that nothing much

Spells

There is a wide selection of spells, that can greatly improve what you can do. Feel free to save before leveling up and try each of them. This way you could evaluate which one of them would best fit your playstyle.

Spell	Description
Ice Storm	This can be a very effective crowd-control spell. It creates ice surfaces and deals bludgeoning, which is a rare damage type
Blight	A very strong single-target spell, it has 8d8 rolls and can one-shot most medium enemies. It also deals necrotic damage that some enemies are weak to.

Replace Spell

I would recommend replacing Scorching Ray. It is a good spell, but it mostly shines for Draocnic Bloodline sorcerer. It does not bring much to the table for Wild Magic. Switch it to:

Spell	Description
Counterspell	Another powerful spell that can counter almost any spell that foe casts. Even if you don't use it often, it is good to have it as it will notify you of what enemies are casting and let you decide the next steps

Level 8

We further increase the arsenal of Sorcerer spells and we get access to the second feat.

Spells and Replace Spell

Spell	Description
Polymorph	I was not a fan of this spell. However, with the Tides of Chaos, this can easily make one of the most powerful spells. Cast it on any strong enemy or boss. Throw them into a chasm with high-strength character. Moreover, you can use Metamagic: Twinned Spell, and cast this one two, making it even more powerful.
Banishment	A spell that can remove an enemy from combat for two turns. What makes it special is that it needs Charisma Saving Throw and not many spells target this ability. Unfortunately, it requires concentration so your other spellcasting may be canceled
Wall of Fire	You can create a straight wall of fire, that allows targeting enemies in wider positions. It also damages nearby foes but for less damage. The downside is that it requires concentration, meaning something like Haste will not work at the same time.
Misty Step	Another option that would give tons of mobility. Misty Step allows you to move away without triggering opportunity attacks. This only costs bonus action, and you can position yourself on a higher ground easily. Also, you can use it in stealth. Do not take it if your race it Githyanki

For replacement, it's your choice, you can pick something you want to try or discard a spell you do not use.

Feat

Feat	Description
Spell Sniper	Doubles the chance of spell spell-critical hit, making your lightning spells even more powerful. Moreover, you gain additional cantrip choices. Pick Eldritch Blast, it is the most powerful cantrip in the game. You can then use metamagic to cast it twice or thrice. Note: As of Patch #2 this feat does not work
Lucky	Use Luck points to get an advantage on your attack rolls, ensuring that you do not miss an attack or pass a Saving Throw

Level 9

And we get to Level 5 spells. To be honest, the big downside is that most of them are concentration spells. Of course, there are some good choices that I could offer to try out.

Spells and Replace Spell

Spell	Description
Cone of Cold	A cold spell that can be used from melee range in a large cone. Make enemies wet before using it for double damage.
Insect Plague	Deals 4d10 damage and makes the terrain difficult. Moreover, enemies get a Disadvantage on Perception checks. A perfect spell to control a choke point
Hold Monster	Similar to Hold Person, it allows putting monsters in place. Add a nearby melee attacker or go close with your spell for guaranteed critical hits. Use Metamagic: Twinned Spell for double effect!

Level 10

We get a new cantrip option, an additional spell, and the last Metamagic.

Cantrips

You are free to take any cantrip that you find useful. More or less the build has been finished, so this is just a good addition:

Cantrips	Description
Mage Hand	Quality of Life spell, that you can use to summon a hand. It can solve some puzzles, pick and throw objects. It can also shove enemies from ledges.
Blade Ward	Reduce incoming piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning damage by half. If you are fighting against enemies that use physical attacks this in theory doubles your HP.

Spells and Replace Spell

Spell	Description
Telekinesis	I love this spell. First thing it allows you to play with enemies and throw them around the battlefield. Second, it can be recast without using a spell slot, which is another huge benefit. However, it requires a concentration slot.

Class Passives

Passives	Description
Metamagic: Heightened Spell	Targets of spells that require Saving Throws have a Disadvantage on their first Saving Throw. It will give a higher chance of spell success. But overall, at this point in the game, it will not matter much.

Level 11

At level 11 we reach the highest tier of spells in the game. Moreover, this is when Wild Magic Sorcerer unlocks its full potential in terms of randomness and chaos it can create:

Action	Description
Controlled Chaos	Foes may suffer a Wild Magic Surge while casting spells near you fluctuating magic. So every time an enemy spellcaster uses a spell, you can activate this reaction. This does not require rolling a dice with a measly 5% chance of Wild Magic Surge.

Spells and Replace Spell

My one recommendation for a level 6 spell is below:

Spell	Description
Chain Lightning	You can use it to target multiple enemies with lightning damage. Add Metamagic: Twinned Spell for even more targets.

You can also take others, but Chain Lightning is extremely powerful. Moreover, you can also do Replace Spell, in case you want something removed that you do not use.

Level 12

We reach the last level of Wild Magic Sorcerer Build. We get our last spell pick and a new Feat option.

Spells

Spell	Description
Disintegrate	A very deadly spell that can do a maximum of 100 damage without a critical hit. It only targets a single enemy, but deals force damage which not many foes can resist.
Sunbeam	An interesting spell that is similar to Lightning Bolt. However, this deals Radiant damage. Unfortunately, it requires a Concentration slot, so you may lose something like Haste

Feat

If Spell Sniper is still bugged when you read this, take Ability Improvement, otherwise Lukcy is your choice.

Feat	Description
Ability Improvement	Pick this if you have not yet maximized the Charisma ability to 20. Or Get Constitution/Dexterity +2.
Lucky	Use Luck points to get an advantage on your attack rolls, ensuring that you do not miss an attack or pass a Saving Throw

General Tips

Now I would like to cover some general tips on how to play Wild Magic Sorcerer Build.

Twinned Spell and Haste

Even if you did not plan this, Sorcerer can be extremely powerful support. At level 5 you gain access to level 3 spell slots and Haste. This spell gives 2 action points per turn, meaning you could double your damage output.

To do this you need to activate Metamagic: Twinned Spell and then cast Haste. You can now target two targets. I recommend doing this on yourself and another group member. This way two members in your party have double amount of actions. This will make your combat encounters much easier.

Use metamagic to empower your first turn

You can use the Metamagic mechanic to create some powerful spell combos. My favorite would be Quickened Spell. It allows casting a spell via bonus action. Here are some good combos:

• Haste and then cast two spells on the first turn and three on the second.
• Hold Person or Monster, and then cast spells for guaranteed critical hits.

Moreover, you can use Metamagic: Heightened Spell to create a disadvantage on Saving Throws on enemies. Meaning your spells have a much higher chance of success

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the Wild Magic Sorcerer build for Baldur's Gate 3. We covered the main aspects of how to build and effective sorcerer that exploits the Wild Magic surges in the game. Unfortunately, the subclass only starts to shine at level 11, which is quite late in the game. However, if you have the patience you will be rewarded delightfully!

Cheers!