I'm playing such a character right now and i tried using chromatic orb in the early level but it was just waaay too expensive to use. Even at level 6 and the DM reducing its cost to 10 GP it would be not an all-day-long usable spell. That is the only bummer i have so far.
In 5e, spell componentes are not consumidores unless the spell description specifically says só. In other words The diamond is not consumed so you only have to have one
Had a tempest cleric in our party and found a wand of lightning bolts in the local shop. Turned our mind flayer campaign into a calamari campaign real quick 🌩
That's a common theme now, after Tasha's all the old Sorcs need a buff, it's one of the reasons I expect to see a "5.5" sometime soon, with all the options combined, and bonus spells for Sorcs and Rangers (Warlocks to really, unless they want to rework the invocation system).
@@killcat1971 5.5 was announced a couple days ago. I would expect to see all of the PHB spellcasting invocations to be updated to match the ones in Xanathar's, allowing a single slot-free casting of the stronger spells instead of still requiring a slot. I would also expect, as you mentioned, to see all of the Optional Class Features from Tasha's just printed directly into the new PHB.
@@Trial88 It is really symptomatic of many spells where mechanics and theme don't quite match. It isn't quite so bad in my campaigns, one because I up the concentration damage by 1d12 for every two upcast levels, and second every elemental damage type has secondary effects on a critical hit. Lightening damage stuns for one round, as an example. Those two changes don't make Witch bolt a great spell, but it is no longer a trap.
After having been “welcomed home” for 60 episodes now… I now smile and get warm fuzzies during the intros. Thanks so much for creating a space for us nerds to feel at home ☺️
Really love the builds like this that are based on a narrative concept, rather than a mechanical one. I think optimizing within a semi-restricted theme, like you did here with taking sorc levels all the way to the end, makes for a way more fun character to play.
I've been playing Tempest Cleric/DivineSoul Sorc for about a year now. It always feels amazing to Maximize a Chain Lightning spell or Transmuted Fireball. It's a very fun multiclass that comes online very early and is a blast to play
Now THIS is pod-racing. Jokes aside, I played a Storm Sorcerer at one point and absolutely fell in love with the idea, so seeing this is hella exciting, love the build.
A fun little trick: Make a simic hybrid, choose the manta glide animal enhancement. Take the storm sorcerer class. Use tempestuous magic to fly upwards diagonally 10 feet, then glide 20. There, you moved 30 feet as a bonus action without provoking opportunity attacks at 1st level :)
Bro I actually just kept watching this video out of your sheer cleanness and handsomeness. This man making dnd vids actually max charisma irl HOLLYYY also props to the clean af background in the video and audio quality
If you wanted an exploding nova type, one thing to consider is getting at least 9 Lvls of Tempest Cleric (for Destructive Wave) plus at least 3 levels of Storm Sorc. With Destructive Wrath 2x per short rest, that would be two nova attacks doing 30 + 5d6 radiant in a 30' radius. Add Spirit Guardians upcast to 6 Lvl at the same time, that would be effectively an additional 6d8 for any creature near you. The best part - neither affects your friends so you can waltz through combat areas and do your thing. Be sure to get Res Con (unless you start Sorc) and War Caster Feats along the way to hold that concentration check. Grab SHIELD and ABSORB ELEMENTS from Sorc for defense, and between other spells and cantrips, you'll have plenty of options.
It is nice to see you prefer a build that involves 6 Cleric levels with Thunderbolt Strike and a second Channel Divinity usage. I also prefer this way of leveling it, but most people recommend only 2 levels of Cleric to not delay their Sorcerer spell progression. I think the addtiional features from 6 Cleric levels are way to underrated. Especially if one takes into account, that this enables one to also pick third level Cleric spells like Revivify and Aura od Vitality, which are amazing spells even out of combat to support ones party and not just be a one-trick pony, that is only able to deal burst damage.
@@DnDDeepDive I think arcane archer might be good for a heavy 3 level dip with a battle smith. Most of the arcane shot options seem to scale well with the artificers intelligence. The shots coming back on a short rest can shore up a battle smiths lack of spell slots. Some of the shots are impactful enough that they can be as effective as spells. The shots can stack with the branding smite spell and eventually the arcane jolt features. The fighting style giving the archery choice can mean the +2 accuracy with ranged attacks stacking with weapon infusions for accuracy and damage. There are a number of bonus action spells available to the artificer and battle smith that allows for versatility and action preservation for damage.
Another option I’ve admired is that three level dip for a Rogue. Certain Arcane Shot options don’t really depend on the DC: Bursting and Grasping. The extra 2d6 balances the lost rogue levels and you get some nice fighter stuff. Still am scratching my head for primary AA build 🧐. Keep on thinking
I once played a character that was a combo of Arcane Archer and Ranger, with the design goal of having nearly every arrow fired have something extra going on, whether it be a spell (Ensnaring Strike, Hail of Thorns, Lightning Arrow, etc.) or an Arcane Shot. The damage was acceptable, but the real bonus was the control. Biggest downside of the build was being MAD with different DC's from Wisdom and Intelligence, aside from Dex for the actual shots. It was an absolute blast to play, though. I was debating between Gloom Stalker and Monster Slayer, though Hunter for Hordebreaker to maximize shot count past the first round was a major contender in my mind. (Leaning heavily towards Gloom Stalker, since Monster Slayer is even more bonus action dependent than a regular Ranger.) Kensai Monk wouldn't be a terrible choice with Kensai's Shot giving a pseudo-weaponized bonus action. Wizard (maybe War Magic?) or Cleric (War for the weaponized bonus action) could be tempting, especially paired with Ranger spells for the extra spell slots. Either one would also give Spirit Shroud for sustained damage. Rogue is never a bad dip for Cunning Action and Sneak Attack, and Scout has a great "Get out of my face" ability that would be helpful for an archer. Tragically most of the Paladin Smite spells don't work with ranged weapons, but 2 of them do, namely Branding Smite and Banishing Smite (Which Battle Smith Artificers and Hexblade Warlocks can also access.) Divine Favor is an often-overlooked sustained damage spell available for Paladins and War Clerics that also works with ranged weapons. All this said, I readily acknowledge that AA has some significant design issues that leave it a little lackluster. I will also say, though, after playing one, it's a lot better in practice than it seems on paper. Taking the feat and/or fighting style to throw in some archery-friendly Battlemaster maneuvers would make it even better. When considering spells from multiclassing, though, I will only say this once: FLAME ARROWS IS A TRAP.
Im currently playing the Aquaman Build. Its Sorc 6 Cleric 2 Fighter 4 which goes Storm/Tempest/Eldrichknight. It is heavily dependent upon gear. It uses the Sparkly Point Trident as a melee / thrown weapon. Its all about water + lightning. Fun as Avernus..
I feel like any character who's damage is based on throwing a bomb spell/nova, subtle spell is basically mandatory. Your nova doesn't go off if you get counterspelled, and since you are delaying your sorcerer levels there are going to be many adventures where foes have counterspell and you yourself don't. Besides, surprise round nova is even better than 1st round nova.
I feel like this depends on the table. Ive played monster hunting campaigns where counter spell hardly ever came up. Though at most tables it would be benifial. Also your casting chromatic orb mostly at the lower levels. I feel like most casters wouldn’t counter a cast of chromatic orb.
Great build as always my guy! So wild, I JUST helped a first timer make a 4 Storm Sorc/2 Tempest Cleric for a level 6 three-shot we started running a month ago. She's LOVING it and has already wiped the floor with some mobs and a maxed out, upcast, Shatter haha. Love the content n can't wait to go binge the 2 newest episodes of ToA!
Very interesting. I have to admit, I'm surprised the build didn't make use of "Call Lightning" since that is an action on turn one that does damage on each subsequent bonus action, pending concentration. First round: Call Lightning (Highest level spell slot; 9D10 at Lv9 spell) as an action. Second round: Call Lightning bonus action, Chromatic Orb action (subsequent lower Lv spell slots; 10D8 at Lv8 spell, doubled on a critical hit), saving "Wrath of the Storm" for crits (Chromatic Orb) or failed saving throws (Call Lightning). One failed DEX save and one critical hit in the same round has the potential to deal 90 Call Lightning damage + 160 Chromatic Orb damage with 2 expenditures of "Wrath of the Storm" at Cleric Lv6, for 250 Nova round damage, plus sustained 9D10 damage for up to a minute with Call Lightning. Alternatively, Chromatic Orb will deal more max damage on a crit than a 9th Lv Call Lightning with as little as a 5th Lv spell slot, if you prefer multiple nova-esque rounds as well as sustained damage with every bonus action. Might be a viable alternative for the Kobold variant (with their other ways of generating advantage) if the "Faerie Fire" and/or "Elven Accuracy" races aren't available for some reason, or for a more sustained damage build with nova potential.
I love that instead of Final Thoughts, the on-screen text says "Epidode 2: The Xbow Fighter" 🤣 That means, not only was that a hilarious copy-paste error that went unnoticed, it also means that 58 episodes later, you hadn't corrected the misspelling of Episode from the title text of video number 2! Your unplanned hilarity is endearing (as if you needed it with such a wonderfully charming personality ^_^).
This is kind of related but there are so many spells that make walls in DnD, and I wish there was a wall of lightning. That would be so freaking cool. The best we can do is just use the transmuted metamagic though.
@@ExeErdna Order of Scribes actually combos better with tempest cleric than storm sorcerer. You can turn wall of fire into lightning damage and continually push enemies back into the center. It becomes basically impossible to escape.
Twinned Spell says that you target a second creature with the same spell so you could twinned spell chromatic orb to deal double damage you will have to youse your action of course you would have to drop a different meta magic or pick up meta magic adept feat somewhere.
>I think that Colby's a tad unclear on how the Storm Sorcerer was designed to work. Namely pop in using Tempestuous Magic to get in or escape,do a lot of nova damage and get out. I refer you to the video When Emily Axford Has Spells as a example.
I know this video is a little older now, but I still love returning to many of these videos. Either for background noise at work, or something to listen to during a walk that's almost like a podcast, but much more structured. Plus, Hearing Colby say "welcome home" always makes me so comfortable and happy. Personally, I would go Variant Human, Pick up Resilient Constitution to get that proficiency and having 16s in both wisdom and constitution, while having points to spare for a 13 strength for that Heavy Armor, and then just go pure Tempest Cleric. Level 4 pick up Metamagic adept to get quickened spell. Then at level 6 with 3rd level spell slots and 2 uses of Channel Divinity, you can quicken Call Lightning and deal Max damage twice. That's simply 60 damage, to often 2 or more enemies. After that, take one more level of Cleric and then 2 levels of fighter for Action Surge. So at level 9 you can Quicken Call lightning, continue with your action, and action surge again. Unfortunately we don't have another channel divinity, so the damage ends up being 80 + 4d10 if you use that 4th level spell slot. Then just go Tempest Cleric the rest of the way. That is how I would build the Ultimate Lightning Mage This comment will probably be lost, but I like sharing these build thoughts, because I just like theory crafting fun builds. Even if no one else will read them.
Whew... Flesh Rot is really strong, but waiting for a minimum of 3 turns for it to take effect means that the fight is probably over or almost over when it kicks in. Not only that, but they have to fail 3 saves, and they're CON saves! The strongest save for the average D&D Monster. I think the likelihood of this taking effect when we actually need it to is just too slim for us to rely on it :/.
This is my current build in my friends' pirate game. He's a half-sea elf. And yes, it's true that the storm sorcerer does suck for the point you bring up.
Going 3 levels into Artificer and choosing armorer will give you access to the lightning launcher, which works as your hexblade weapon and can deal 2d6+1 lightning damage which can be boosted with channel divinity.
An option of race for the storm based caster, could be a fallen aasimar. Reason, their ability to cause fear. A fierce storm can cause fear in people. Did that for one of my characters. Was helpful in my situations.
2 levels of tempest cleric and then the rest of order of scribes wizard is also a great combo change your spell damage into lighting or thunder then do max damage for great burst damage (but it still hurts that you can't change inflict wounds into thunder damage to one punch someone)
I have a character who started as fighter (two levels) and then picked up Storm Sorceror, where he's remained. I think I may start the Cleric of the Tempest path for him going forward. Do not forget that you have Control Winds as a level 5 spell for Sorcery. This is very useful.
I just built an Echo Knight for a campaign and was interested in multiclassing with Artillerist to get a clone and turret on the field simultaneously, would love to see something like that. Your builds are always super interesting
This made me think of what Azaar Kul, the antagonist from the Red Hand of Doom, would look like. Maybe you can use you skills to create BBEGs from old and new adventures and allow DMs to wreak havoc on parties everywhere
Fey wanderer ranger and firbolg is a fun combo for being a pokemon trainer. Able to speak with animals and plants freely and you have an insane skill bonus to a bunch of skills. Splash rouge and skill expert and you have a huge modifier to things like animal handling and persuasion, but you can also do Ranger 3/ charisma caster or paladin. Lots of fun options.
Important: taking a quarterstaff (reflavour it as a thor hammer imo) as your hexblade weapon allows you to wield a shield and weapon and cast without war caster
You could go lvl 7 sorcerer to get Wall of fire and transmute that to wall of lightning. Then cast it as a ring behind your target. Hit them with shocking grasp to trigger thunderbolt strike and knock them into the ring of lightning. they take damage when they pass through the ring and start their turn inside. They also take thunderbolt strike to potentially keep them pinned.
Hey, the 10-foot temporary flight you get as Storm sorcerer is very thematically appropriate AND useful. It lets you easily enter and exit melee without foes getting attacks of opportunity. Combine that with Storm Sorcerer's level 6 ability to add Lightning or Thunder damage to all enemies of your choice within 10 feet and the level 6 Tempest ability to push foes back whenever you do Thunder damage. Now cast Destructive Wave, spend a bonus action to fly 10 feet in with no opportunity attacks, smash the ground, do tons of damage and knock all enemies around you back 10 feet. Congratulations, you just did Thor's signature move! Make sure you are wielding a warhammer for effect.
Really enjoyed this! Thanks! 👏 I appreciated the Peter joke btw. I really hope I find a game I can join this year to play this. I have a character story I love for this. 👍 Only thing I would do different is take draconic sorcerer (lightning) up to level 6 at least (so I get elemental affinity and add chrisma modifier again to booming blade and C orb attacks)
My one comment is you could've had it be a demigod. A mortal with lineage of the storm god who they also worship, giving both innate magic and cleric magic
Tempestuous Magic has actually been incredibly useful for me. I'm constantly surprised by how often I can get it to matter, doing things that other casters would need multiple rounds or sorcery points to do. There are SO many times where a creature is just 5 feet away from my 60-foot levitate or hold person. There are also lots of times when I can just hop over difficult terrain, or get on top of some terrain object. It honestly replaces Misty Step a lot of the time, and you can pick up Thunder Step instead.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I think Witch Bolt would do more damage than chromatic orb starting with 5th level spell slots. By the final damage report, 8th level Witch Bolt would do 96 damage vs 80 from chromatic orb, so a sizable difference at higher levels.
Great build. For some reason this made me think of how far could I push a creature. Say take this basic build and have two levels of warlock for repelling blast - transmute first Eldritch blast and then quicken second for 40 ft from repelling blast and 40 for lightning damage + 40 again from repelling blast for 120 feet. 2 levels of fighter for action surge would give you another transmuted blast for another 80 feet. Grand total = 200 feet in one turn (provided they all hit). I think this works RAW. Unfortunately you’d probably have to take eldritch spear instead of agonizing blast for your second invocation. Anyway always enjoy your videos. Keep it up.
I thought of similar but sadly you can't transmute a force spell, so it doesn't work on eldritch blast :( You could do it on scorching ray. 2 castings with action surge would give you plenty of push depending how high the spell slots you used. Better off just taking the 120 max from 3 castings of eldritch blast though.
Other good option once you have that hexblade dip is Scorching ray. As the curse triggers on every ray. Combined with triple advantage from faerie fire you can do some great stuff, if you want to save your channel divinity.
@@DnDDeepDive that would be awesome! It’s a build I’ve been thinking of, since haste on a monk would be so fun, and I’d love to see how you would go about it!😁
I would’ve rathered the warlock dip choose genie and take the djinn. Every turn your attack can add thunder damage… every turn. Including wjth booming blade. It’s more thematic and benefits from your sorcerer and cleric features
@@wookieesden3133 not plus 3. you lose +1. He went warlock way to late to think that he never invested in his attack stat. Unless you level 1 warlock dip then you have to invest in str/dex before charisma.
@@keonprs5800 honestly i haven't seen this for a while and I'm not gonna rewatch to respond to this comment. But he wouldn't be a hexblade... so He would've went Str/Dex first if not for hexblade. Just saying it would be more thematic and wouldn't be a loss, just a difference. You could still have Charisma go up later, and not rely on chromatic orb. The thunder damage would be availabe for free (Without using a spell slot) every turn
I went for this build but chose a blue Dragonborn for my race. 😎 _(Gonna use it as a lvl 7 character for a oneshot, at the end of which I am most definitely gonna toast my party)._ I also went with the Tough feat to increase my HP from 46 to 60! :D
I have a thunder mage build that I gave a nice Norse theme. The build is 2 lvls tempest cleric, though 6 might be worth it, and the rest in scribe wizard. Because scribe wizard lets you change the damage of your spells to any other spell of the same lvl you can make ALL your spells do lightning damage. The theme though was a descendant of Thor who received visions of Odin teaching him of his origins and how to use runes(scrolls) to cast magic.
It's odd that I'm just finding this. I've wanted to make a Tempest Cleric/Storm Sorcerer for a while, but using an Air Genasi. Start with 2 levels of Cleric, gaining armor and weapon proficiencies. Then onward to full Sorcerer for the rest. Channel at 2nd can max future lightning bolts, etc. I do agree Draconic does more for damage, but conflicts with armor proficiency given your Draconic scales Chromatic Orb is a non starter, as it's material component is something you can't start with, nor get around with a Focus. And let's face it, using Metamagics to change damage spells to Lightning just opens up a whole can of whoop ass.
Tossing out an unmentioned idea: Transmute Eldritch Blast for an unexpectedly rebuilt Eldritch Spear (Hexblade's Curse + Lightning Eldritch Blast + Wrath of the Storm = (potentially) 3d10 + (3*CHA) + (3*Proficiency) + push 30 feet. Destructive Wrath on any Crits if you like)
Using this as an enemy lieutenant for the BBEG faction in my campaign. Having the town locked down because of a storm has been a fun setting. Revealing a little later that this guy is the reason for the storm has made it that much better. I don't mind at all that this build doesn't have as much mechanical prowess as other builds, because thematically, it's golden.
The only thing I’m 100% confident will be in D&D 50 is the adjustments to the feats and features pre-Tasha’s that let you cast a spell once to also allow casting with spell slots.
Half-Elf Pal 2/Tempest Cleric 18 Booming Blade 3d8 (24) Thunderous Smite 10d8 (80) Divine Strike 2d8 (16) 100 flat thunder damage not including weapon damage and divine smite Little less bursty and much more streamline
My normal tempest sorc build is 6 tempest and 14 sorc. Rain call lightning all day and gaurentee throw people 10 feet every time. Quicken spell and throw lighting bolts with your bonus action. Elemental adept. Boom. Lighting god.
Wow cool build! This has become my favorite channel. Comprehensive and awesome! I would love to see your version of a divine powerhouse. Making the ultimate holy warrior. Mashing many of the divine flavoured class options together, be it a paladin/celestial warlock/DSS/cleric. Or what would be most optimal while confining ourselves in this devout spectrum.
I have a one shot Pikachu build for you. Izzet engineer background. Then storm sorc to at least 18. Use call lighting exclusively to cast it on yourself. Optional: shout Pikachu every time. 2 tempest for Max damage or 2 druid for garentee con saves. Im not the pro though 🤣
If you're allowed to use critical role content, you could always take widowgasts Web of fire at sorc 7 and transmute it into lightning. Normally this does 8d6 damage +1d6 per upcast level to 5 creatures within 60ft. HOWEVER it has a special effect where if you choose to hit only 1 creature, it spikes to a whopping 12d6 +1d6 per upcast which, if you max out with the cleric feature turns it into a staggering 72 lightning damage AT BASE LEVEL which is only 8 less damage then a crit on chromatic orb at the same level much more reliable damage if you don't want to take the dip into hexlock for increased crit chance and/or elven accuracy is banned at you table
It's sad that the Storm Sorcerer, while thematic, does almost nothing for your numbers. If not tied to that subclass for flavor, I would consider going with Wild Magic. Tides of Chaos gives another source of advantage, and Bend Luck makes your enemies less likely to make their saving throws. And since you're planning on charging your opponents, many "negative" wild magic effects (like casting fireball or grease centered on yourself) will get the bad guys.
It's just that so much of your subclass is ENTIRELY dependent on the dm in a way that no other class is. Tides of chaos is essentially 1x per long rest and Controlled Chaos may as well not exist.
@@adamkaris If you use Tides of Chaos and metamagic consistently, and your DM doesn't mind being nudged about it, you should be able to get a wild magic surge (and Tides of Chaos renewed) every round you nova. It is true that this build will never see Controlled Chaos, unfortunately, but Tides of Chaos and Bend Luck are both great at making die rolls go your way.
Depending on the power of the build in question I might allow the use of ancestry options like drow magic to function like newer inclusions do. However, I don't think a ruling one way or another is clear enough for me to feel comfortable basing a build around it.
As a DM I would definitely allow it, but that's just me. When 5.5 comes out in 2024 it will most likely update all the PHB races to match the structure of the newer ones.
5.5 might do that, but it could also rebalance which spells some features give along the way as the power level of spells varies greatly. That's why I'd tie my decision to the build's preexisting power. If someone wanted their haxadin to get easier access to darkness via a drow magic buff I'd probably say no since that type of character is already very good.
I played something kinda similar with an Armorer Artificer/Tempest Cleric. Eliminates the need for the Dex Investment, and the Lightning Launcher works AWESOME with the Lvl 6 ability! One of the most fun builds I've played.
This is one I've theory crafted, but never built. Love the flavor and concept. Stormbringer! I just wish they made giant soul sorc from UA official. You run giant soul storm giant sorcerer/temp cleric for a thicc lightning tank.
Hello Colby. I'm playing Eberron, and I rolled a Lyrandar, the Khoravar (they don't like to be called half elves) with the Dragonmark of Storm. I agree with you, the Storm Sorcerer really suck on his own. What I did was pick Paladin and make a Homebrew Oath; the Oath of Storms. Pickíng things from the Tempest Cleric, the Storm Sorcerer and the Fathomless Warlock. It gets those things way later in levels (3 instead of 1 for wrath of the storm and destructive wrath for example), spell level's cap for them is 5, but totally worth it. I also picked one level of Hexblade with one of The Devourer's Weapon as my patron. Yes, I'm a sinner too. Loved your video. Don't stop making them.
Im running a ancient greek themed campaign and have been toying with something like this for a zeus style character. You gave me some good ideas to use
The ability to cast racial spells and *spells* known from racial abilities using spell slots has been specially allowed by Jeremy Crawford and others in Sage advice. It is now listed in new abilities/feats etc to be more clear.
I feel like 6 levels of tempest cleric makes for a better nova round using metamagic adept for quickened spell and call lightning. You'd be variant human and grab warcaster as well.
Alternate lightning user options: an Air Genasi Storm Sorcerer / Djinni Warlock with about an even split to become a pseudo-djinni, or a Mark of Storm Half-Elf Sea Storm Herald Barbarian / Tempest Cleric where you start with a few levels of barbarian and then go all in on cleric to become a pseudo-storm giant.
