Dungeons & Dragons: How To Build A Shadow Magic Sorcerer (2024)

Setting up a new character can be both exciting and daunting when looking over each and every option. Especially as the fifth edition of has only continued to grow with thanks to the publication of more sourcebooks that bring new species and classes. And that's exactly where a Shadow Magic Sorcerer draws its existence from.

In Xanathar's Guide To Everything, the Sorcerer gains three additional subclasses, including this Shadow Magic variant. Move over always-angsty Rogue. There's a new shadowy and mysterious option for players to choose from. But, in speaking about choices, what are your best options when picking this class?

Shadow Magic Sorcerer Features

As a Shadow Magic Sorcerer, you will gain five new abilities as you level up, as well as an improvement to one of your abilities, making for a total of six. The way they break down is:

Eyes of the Dark gives you Darkvision up to 120ft away, and then at third level, you have the ability to cast Darkness with this feature. If you decide to use two Sorcery Points when you cast it, you're able to see through the magical darkness, giving you a massive advantage as most other creatures will not be able to peer through it.

Strength of the Grave gives you an opportunity to stay conscious when knocked down to zero hit points. Shadow Walk allows you to teleport up to 120 feet away as a bonus action, so long as there is a shadow within range you can step into.

Though, the two biggest features here are Hound of Ill Omen and Umbral Form. Hound of Ill Omen allows you to summon a Hound (based on a Dire Wolf's stats) to the field as a bonus action, though you have to use three Sorcery Points to do this. The Hound will target whichever enemy you choose, but they know where this creature is, even if hidden, and they can move through creatures and other obstacles.

Umbral Form allows you to turn yourself into a shadow of a figure, making you resistant to all but two damage types: Force and Radiant. Like your Hound, you can also move through creatures and objects. You spend six Sorcery Points to do this and it lasts for one minute, which can be incredibly helpful in the heat of combat.

Best Species Options For A Shadow Magic Sorcerer

One of the first choices players usually consider is which species to play as. A variant human still remains one of the best across the board, but there are other species that pair very well with a Shadow Magic Sorcerer. An air genasi will give you access to other Sorcerer spells that don't count against your known total while giving you a damage resistance.

Other options include astral elves, deep gnomes, dragonborn, drow, faeries, githyanki, half-elves, satyrs, warforged (if you can convince your dungeon master of your magic "lineage"), and yuan-ti. Below is a table that will go over each of these options in terms of their benefits to a Shadow Magic Sorcerer.

Though, as a basic rule of thumb, a species that helps you max out your Charisma, or one that helps you defensively, like adding to your Constitution or Dexterity, can ultimately serve you and your character.

Best Ability Scores For A Shadow Magic Sorcerer

The name of the game for Shadow Magic Sorcerers is Charisma. This is your Spellcasting Ability, so all of the magic that you use is reliant on your Charisma modifier. Naturally, the higher you can get this ability, the higher your Spell Save DC is as well as your Spell Attack modifier.

After that, depending on your playstyle and what you are looking to aid your character with, place your next highest stat in either Constitution or Dexterity.

Your Constitution modifier will grant you additional health, which is particularly helpful with Sorcerers because you will be using a d6 to determine your hit points, the lowest possible option. So, without a high Constitution, you'll be very squishy.

As for Dexterity, having a higher modifier in this increases your Armor Class, or AC for short. Your AC is what's used to calculate if a weapon or magic attack hits you. The lower the AC, the more you will be getting hit. The higher it is, then it will be harder to hit you, meaning that overall you'll be taking less damage.

After that, it's up to your preferences. The skill that is the least important to your character should be your Strength. This is often a negative modifier for those who play Sorcerers, leaving any Strength-based rolls to other party members who rely on Strength, such as Barbarians and Fighters.

Best Spells For A Shadow Magic Sorcerer

Some of the best spells you can select should mix well with your Hound of Ill Omen. Now, granted, you ultimately can choose any spell that seems to work best for your character and their backstory, but if you want to maximize your impact on any battle, having spells that force other creatures to roll a saving throw at disadvantage means that you can turn the tide of battle even more than usual.

One nasty combo is to use Blindness/Deafness when you have your Hound of Ill Omen out and near your chosen enemy. Your Hound will give them disadvantage on the Saving Throw they need to make, of course, making it more likely that you can either blind or deafen your enemy. Choose Blindness. This will give your Hound, as well as your teammates, advantage on attack rolls against the enemy.

This also means that your foe will make their attacks at disadvantage. A real win/win combo that is sure to make your DM question everything.

You'll also want to consider Hold Person. All Sorcerers can, potentially, have a creature roll at disadvantage on this if they Heighten the spell with Sorcery Points. But that only applies to the initial roll, allowing you to successfully hold the person in question for one turn, but after that the dice decide how much longer they will be kept in place.

With your Hound of Ill Omen, that person will be rolling at disadvantage against the spell each turn. They can still break free, but your Hound will make it much less likely that they will.

Hold Monster, which is a fifth level spell, is another stellar option for the same reason. Your Hound of Ill Omen will make it harder and harder for a Monster to break free. And, if you know you are going up against anything with a low Wisdom modifier, they are going to be paralyzed for a long time to come.

After that, all of your other spells are truly up to you, but one more recommendation is for when you're able to cast the most powerful, ninth level spells. Psychic Scream, from Xanathar's Guide To Everything, has creatures of your choice rolling Intelligence Saving Throws. On a fail, they take a massive 14d6 wroth of damage and are stunned.

With your Hound of Ill Omen, you can put a creature at disadvantage not just for the first roll, but every roll they make after that to end the stunned effect.

Best Feats For A Shadow Magic Sorcerer

Naturally, the most important thing to do is to get your Charisma as high as you can before the end of the campaign. If you didn't roll well when determining your character's stats, or used another form of stat building that didn't get that modifier as high as you'd like, it is still your best option to take the stat increases you get as you level up instead of feats.

But, if your Charisma is in a good place, or you still would rather grab some feats, here are some of the best options for you to consider.