The New 2024 Sorcerer: DnD 5e Class Changes
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The Sorcerer is relatively new to Dungeons & Dragons, having first appeared in the third edition of the game and quickly becoming one of the most popular of all DnD classes. Yet over the past decade, the DnD 5e Sorcerer has remained relatively untouched by the tides of arcane energy, with only a few minor rules enhancements and a handful of new subclasses.
The Sorcerer, however, is about to be radically transfigured by Wizards of the Coast, with the class getting a major overhaul in the pages of the new 2024 Player’s Handbook. Some of these changes will be familiar if you’ve studied the lore of the One D&D playtest, but the design team has also conjured up a few other surprises, including a new Innate Sorcery feature, an overhaul to Metamagic and some significant changes to subclasses.
So just how does the new 2024 Sorcerer stack up? Below, we enter the weave and summon up all the details.
What’s changed in the new 2024 Sorcerer for DnD 5e?
Below are all the changes to the 2024 Sorcerer versus the 2014 Sorcerer (notably, both still fall under the DnD 5e rules).
| Sorcerer Feature | Level | Changes to the 2024 Sorcerer Class |
|---|---|---|
| Spellcasting | 1 | – Sorcerers can now prepare more spells than they could before. – Can switch one cantrip when you level up. |
| Innate Sorcery | 1 | – Use a Bonus Action to surge in power for 1 minute. – While active, your Sorcerer spell save DC increases by +1, and you have Advantage on attack rolls for Sorcery spells. – Two uses per Long Rest. |
| Metamagic | 2 | – Metamagic now available at Level 2 (was previously available at Level 3 in the 2014 rules) – Metamagic selection can now be changed when you level up. – Some Metamagic options have been tweaked (see below). – Learn more Metamagic options as you level up. |
| Sorcerer Subclass | 3 | – Now at level 3 instead of level 1. – Aberrant Mind: Largely unchanged from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, except you cannot trade out your subclass spells. – Clockwork Sorcery: Largely unchanged from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, except you cannot trade out your subclass spells. – Draconic Sorcery: Buffs and extra spells make this subclass more draconic and robust. – Wild Magic Sorcery: Wild Magic Surges are more reliable, and the table has been slightly tweaked. |
| Sorcerous Restoration | 5 | Regain expended Sorcery Points equal to half your Sorcerer level after a Short Rest once per day. |
| Sorcery Incarnate | 7 | – Regain uses of Innate Sorcery by spending 2 Sorcery Points. – While active allows you to use two Metamagic options on every spell |
| Epic Boon | 19 | Choose one Epic Boon feat, or another feat of your choice. |
| Arcane Apotheosis | 20 | While active, Innate Sorcery allows you to use one Metamagic option for free each turn. |
How will the 2024 Sorcerer changes impact gameplay?
Level 1: Spellcasting
One of the biggest changes to the 2024 Sorcerer is that they can now prepare more spells than their 2014 counterparts could learn. In fact, at level 3 Sorcerers now prepare just as many spells as the Druid, Bard, Cleric and Wizard. Addtionally, the 2024 Sorcerer swap out a cantrip spell every time you level up (something that wasn’t possible in the 2014 rules).
This change to spellcasting adds significantly more versatility and definitely ups the magical potential and damage output of Sorcerers in combat.
Level 1: Innate Sorcery
This is also brand new feature for the 2024 Sorcerer that is really the spellcasting equivalent of the “Rage” feature of the 2024 Barbarian class, with Wizards of the Coast describing this ability as Sorcerers releasing a “burst with their innate magic.” As a Bonus Action you can increase the save DC of one of your spells by +1. This lasts for 1 minute and also provides advantage on all attack rolls for your Sorcerer spells. You can use this feature twice per Long Rest.
Level 2: Metamagic
In the 2014 rules, Metamagic is a core class feature of the Sorcerer that lets you choose from a variety of different magical effects that augment an existing spell (i.e. Careful Spell lets you burn a sorcery point to help protect nearby creatures, Distant Spell lets you burn a sorcery point to add 5 feet to the range of a spell etc.).
In the 2024 rules, you now get access to Metamagic at Level 2, instead of Level 3 (and you get to choose two more metamagic options at Level 10 and 17). In addition, six of the ten metamagic options have been refined and optional abilities that were included in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything will now be in the core rules as follows
- Careful Spell: Now protects your allies from taking half damage on a successful save.
- Extended Spell: You now also get Advantage on saving throws made to maintain Concentration on spells altered by this Metamagic.
- Heightened Spell: This now costs 2 Sorcery Points instead of 3. In addition, it now also affects all subsequent saves a target makes against the heightened spell.
- Seeking Spell: This now costs 1 Sorcery Point instead of 2. You can still use this Metamagic option even if you are using another one on that same spell.
- Subtle Spell: Now allows you to ignore Material components (as long as those Material components do not have a cost specification and are not consumed by the spell).
- Twinned Spell: Now applies to spells that can be upcast to target an additional creature (for example Banishment), increasing the spell’s effective level by 1. It also now only costs 1 Sorcery Point.
Level 5: Sorcerous Restoration
In the 2014 rules, this was a level 20 Sorcerer feature that allowed you to regain 4 expended sorcery points whenever you finished a short rest. In the 2024 rules, once per day, you can regain expended Sorcery Points (equal to half your Sorcerer level, rounded down) on a Short Rest. This lets players be a little more strategic with when and how to use Sorcery Points, rather than hoarding them (which was often the case with 2014 rules).
Level 7: Sorcery Incarnate
This is a new 2024 Sorcerer class feature that allows you to spend Sorcery Points to get back uses of your Innate Sorcery feature (similar to what we’ve seen with the Font of Inspiration feature from the new 2024 Bard, which lets you burn a spell slot to recover a use of Bardic Inspiration). Also, while your Innate Sorcery is active, you can use two metamagic options on a spell instead of just one.
Level 19: Epic Boon
In the 2014 rules, Epic Boons were only given out by Dungeon Masters at their discretion. In the new 2024 core rules, however, players can now choose one for themselves when they hit Level 19. There are 12 base Epic Boons to choose from that are shared among the classes and there are no limitations to what Sorcerers will be able to choose. Wizards of the Coast recommends going with the “Boon of Dimensional Travel,” which increase one ability score by 1 (up to a maximum of 30) and allows you to teleport up to 30 feet immediately after you take the Attack or Magic action.
Level 20: Arcane Apotheosis
This is a brand new capstone feature for the 2024 Sorcerer. When your Innate Sorcery is active, once per turn you can use a metamagic option without spending any sorcery points. This is an incredibly powerful new feature that really showcases what a high-level Sorcerer can do.
What are the changes to the 2024 Sorcerer subclasses?
In the new 2024 Player’s Handbook, there are four official Sorcerer subclasses: Abberant, Clockwork, Draconic and Wild Magic. Notably, the first two appeared in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, while the latter two were originally featured in the 2014 Player’s Handbook.
One of the biggest across-the-board change changes, however, is that Sorcerers now choose their subclass at Level 3 (as opposed to Level 1, as per the 2014 rules). In addition, the existing subclasses have seen the following changes:
- Aberrant Sorcery: Psionic Spells can no longer be replaced with Divination or Enchantment spells from the Sorcerer, Warlock or Wizard spell list. Psionic Sorcery no longer affects Material components that have a specified cost. In addition, telepathic Speech is now more resilient and oes not drop if you are Incapacitated or dead.
- Clockwork Sorcery: Clockwork Spells can no longer be replaced with Abjuration or Transmutation spells from the Sorcerer, Warlock or Wizard spell list. Restore Balance is now tied to your Charisma modifier instead of your Proficiency Bonus.
- Draconic Sorcery: You now get ten additional spells as you level up (including Command, Fear, Charm Monster and Legend Lore). The Armor Class calculation of Draconic Resilience now also includes your Charisma modifier (10 + DEX + CHA). You also get access to the new Dragon’s Breath spell and as a capstone feature get the Summon Draconic Spirit spell (which is an updated version of the Summon Dragon spell found in Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons).
- Wild Magic: The Wild Magic effects table has been significantly updated with new features and a design that makes it easier to use by both players and DMs (with a mix of both positive and negative outcomes). Wild Magic surges now trigger on a 21 instead of a 1. Casting the Tides of Chaos spell now also automatically triggers a Wild Magic Surge. The Bend Luck feature now also costs 1 Sorcery Point instead of 2. Additionally, at level 18, you get a new feature called “Tamed Surges” where once per day you can trigger a wild magic surge and get to choose what effect happens from the new table.
Final Thoughts on the New Wizard
Fan reactions to some of the new classes have been fairly mixed (particularly for the nerfed 2024 Paladin and the Hunter’s Mark heavy 2024 Ranger). The Sorcerer, however, seems like a solid remix, particularly in the ability to better use and restore Sorcery Points, and in how the class utilizes Metamagic. The changes to the Wild Magic subclass also seem incredibly positive.
The design team has pointed out that the new 2024 Warlock and Sorcerer are really two sides of the same magical coin: The Warlock is all about extreme customization as you level up, while the Sorcerer is more about customizing the effects of your magic during play. This approach definitely comes through, and the new Sorcerer really does feel fresh and new. It remains to be seen, however, if the rest of the DnD 5e community will feel the same.
You can find the complete rules for the new Sorcerer class in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, which is available for pre-order now on D&D Beyond and Amazon.
Below is also a video from the official Dungeons & Dragons YouTube channel, with DnD lead designer Jeremy Crawford doing a deeper dive into the new class features.
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Cameron Nichols is a Senior Editor who lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and has been playing D&D since the early 90s, when he was introduced by his older brother and cut his teeth on AD&D 2nd Edition. Since then he’s played virtually every RPG he could get his nerdy little mitts on (including a weird Goth phase in the early 2000s when he rocked Vampire: The Masquerade pretty hard). His favorite D&D campaign setting is the Forgotten Realms and his favorite character to play was a Half-Orc Barbarian named Grug (who was unfortunately devoured by a gelatinous cube).
