Sorcerer Subclasses - Xanathar's

 The PHB only had two subclass options for Sorcerers. Later, Storm Sorcery would be published in Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, and then saw reprinting in Xanathar's Guide to Everything. With three new subclasses, a lot of options opened up. Sorcerers don't have a ton of class features beyond Metamagic, so they lean a bit on the subclasses to broaden the power of the class. The PHB ones, apart from the wild and unpredictable Wild Magic table, don't really bring anything all that crazy, but then again, the class also has a pretty good spell list. Let's see what the Xanathar-era subclasses bring.

Divine Soul is a subclass that links your sorcery to the gods. While there's no strict rule basis for the difference between divine, nature, and arcane magic, there tends to be a kind of grouping of spells that go to each branch. Divine Soul sorcerers really open this up.

At 1, you get Divine Magic. This gives you access to the entire Cleric spell list, which is actually fully insane. Clerics derive a lot of their power from having access to many, many exclusive spells, and getting that entire list on top of these subclass features can make you very powerful. A sorcerer who can toss a fireball one turn and then do a mass cure wounds the next? Useful.

On top of that, based on the god whose from whom you derive your power, you learn one additional spell, which doesn't count against the sorcerer's very narrow "spells known" list. Good deities give Cure Wounds. Evil ones give Inflict Wounds. Lawful deities give Bless. Chaotic deities give Bane. And Neutral deities give Protection from Evil and Good. (Naturally, if your god is Lawful Good, you can pick either Cure Wounds or Bless.)

Also at 1, you get Favored by the Gods. If you fail a saving throw, you can roll 2d4 and add that to the total, possibly changing the outcome. You can do this once per short or long rest.

So, already, just having access to the cleric list is enormous. An extra 2-8 (averaging 5) on a failed save is also pretty great. And any way to get access to more known spells is very welcome for a sorcerer.

At 6, you get Empowered Healing. When you or an ally rolls dice to determine how many hit points a spell restores, you can spend 1 sorcery point to reroll any of those dice, as long as you're not incapacitated. You can do this once a turn. This is a pretty simple way to avoid a really disappointing heal. Nothing flashy, but also easy to use multiple times.

At level 14, you get Otherworldly Wings. As a bonus action you can bamf out a pair of spectral wings from your back, giving you a flying speed of 30 feet. They last until you're incapacitated or die, or you can dismiss them as a bonus action. Different deities give different-looking wings, but I'd say this is something you can very much choose for yourself. This is very similar to the Draconic Bloodline feature, though the fact that they're spectral means that you don't have to have clothes that are open at the back, which is nice.

At 18, you get Unearthly Recovery. As a bonus action, if you have fewer than half your hit points remaining, you can regain a number of hit points equal to half your hit point maximum. You can use this once per long rest. This amounts to a one-a-day massive heal when you need it most. Great survivability feature.

So yeah, Divine Soul so far looks to be by far the most powerful when compared with the PHB options. Having the full Cleric spell list on top of the Sorcerer one is, again, insanely good, but everything else here is also super useful.

Let's move on to Shadow Magic. Here, your power derives from the Shadowfell, and you are deeply tied to the darkness of that realm and the power of shadow itself.

At 1, you get Eyes of the Dark. You have darkvision out to 120 feet. When you reach 3rd level, you learn the Darkness spell, which doesn't count against your spells known. Also, you can cast it using two Sorcery Points, and if you do, you can see through it. The Warlocks' Devil's Sight/Darkness combo is well known, and here it's baked into the class.

Also at 1  you get Strength of the Grave. If damage reduces you to 0 hit points, you can make a Charisma saving throw with a DC of 5 + the damage taken. On a success, you drop to 1 instead, though if the damage is from a critical hit or radiant, you can't use this (similar to a zombie's Undead fortitude.) Once this succeed, you can't again until you finish a long rest. I like that you get to reuse this if you fail the save and get brought back by the healer. Anything to make a squishy class less squishy is welcome.

At 6, you get Hound of Ill Omen. As a bonus action, you can spend 3 sorcery points to summon a spectral hound targeting a creature within 120 feet of you. It uses the Dire Wolf's stats, but is Medium instead of Large, and is a monstrosity instead of a beast. It has temp hit points equal to your sorcerer level. It can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain (taking 5 force damage if it ends its turn inside an object) and, at the start of its turn, it automatically knows the target's location, regardless of whether it was hidden or not.

The hound appears in an unoccupied space within 30 feet of the target, and rolls its own initiative. On its turn, it moves only toward the target by the most direct route, and uses its action only to attack the target. It can make opportunity attacks, but only against the target. When it's within 5 feet of the target, the target had disadvantage on saving throws against any spells you cast. If it or the target are reduced to 0 hit points, or after five minutes, the hound disappears.

Phew. Complicated. Basically, you get an implacable killing machine that chases down your target relentlessly. I do feel like this feature might become kind of underwhelming at higher levels, as a Dire Wolf's hit bonus and damage are not enormous. That said, the disadvantage on saves is probably the main thing that you want from this - I guess the damage is just a bit of icing on the cake.

At 14, you get Shadow Walk. When in dim light or darkness, you can use a bonus action to teleport up to 120 feet to an unoccupied space that is also within dim light or darkness. There's no limit on this, so in the right environment, the mobility is outstanding.

Finally, at 18, you get Umbral Form. You can spend 6 sorcery points as a bonus action to take on a shadowy form. You get resistance to all damage except force and radiant, and you can move through objects as if they were difficult terrain. You take 5 force damage if you end your turn inside an object. This lasts 1 minute, or if you're incapacitated or die, or if you dismiss it as a bonus action. While 6 SP is a hefty price, getting resistance to practically all damage is nothing remotely to sneeze at.

So, while I don't know if it has the "how are they allowed to do that?" of the Divine Soul, Shadow Sorcery is another step up from the power of the PHB subclasses. Hound of Ill Omen seems like a pain to manage, but is still useful.

Finally, out of Xanathar's we get the Storm Sorcery subclass, which was reprinted from Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. The chaos of storms seems a natural fit for Sorcerers, so let's take a look at it!

At 1, you get Wind Speaker. You learn the Primordial language, which allows you to speak with elementals that know Aquan, Auran, Ignan, and Terran (which are all dialects of Primordial.)

You also get Tempestuous Magic. As a bonus action immediately before or after you cast a spell of 1st level or higher, you can fly up to 10 feet without provoking opportunity attacks. This is a nice way to get away from foes and get just far enough to avoid disadvantage on ranged attack rolls. There's also plenty of narrow cases where this could be very useful, though 10 feet is pretty short distance.

At 6, you get Heart of the Storm. You gain resistance to lightning and thunder damage. Also, when you cast a spell that deals lightning or thunder damage, you can erupt with storm energy, dealing your choice of lightning or thunder damage to any creatures of your choice that you can see within 10 feet of you equal to half your sorcerer level. While a sorcerer should probably avoid being surrounded by enemies, this is a nice little burst of damage to punish them for getting near you.

Additionally at 6, you get Storm Guide. If it's raining, you can use an action to cause the rain to stop falling in a 20-ft radius sphere centered on you, which you can end as a bonus action. If it's windy, as a bonus action each round, you can choose the direction the wind is blwoing on a 100-ft radius sphere centered on you until the end of your next turn, though you can't alter the speed of the wind. While mostly useful for RP, this makes you invaluable in any kind of sailing adventure, when you can keep the winds at your back and ensure that your ship is always traveling at its highest speed.

At level 14, you get Storm's Fury. If you are hit with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to deal lightning damage equal to your sorcerer level to the attacker. They then have to make a Strength saving throw or be pushed in a straight line 20 feet away from you. Again, any chance to open up distance between you and your foes is pretty great, and if they had to run to you to attack you that turn, they'll likely lose any other attacks they had.

At level 18, you get Wind Soul. First off, you gain immunity to lightning and thunder damage. As I've said before, damage immunities are somewhat rare in subclass features, and getting two of them is I think unique. A blue dragon is going to have a much harder time killing you with this.

Additionally, you gain a flying speed of 60 feet. As an action, you can reduce your speed to 30 feet for an hour and extend the flight capability to a number of creatures equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier (so likely 8 by this level.) The creatures also gain a flying speed of 30 feet for 1 hour. Once you reduce your speed in this way, you cannot again until you finish a short or long rest.

So, naturally, this flying feature is superior to the others, as you not only get twice the speed but also a way to let the whole party fly. This seems tailor-made to help with some epic final boss fight in which the big bad is hovering in the air - it doesn't require concentration nor does it end if anything happens to the sorcerer.

While this last feature is off the hook, I think overall the Storm Sorcerer is not quite at the same power level as the other Xanathar subclasses. But if you're playing at high levels, this gets really exciting and cool.