D&D: Is The New Shadow Sorcerer *LITERALLY* Unplayable? Improved Darkness Powers But No More Cool Shadow Hound
Arguably, the new Shadow Sorcerer out of the Horror Subclasses Unearthed Arcana has more powerful features. But at what cost? At what cost?!
Shadow Sorcerers get some shiny—er—broody, darkness-infused new toys in the Horror Subclasses Unearthed Arcana. And there’s no arguing, this is a much stronger subclass now. Shadow Sorcerers finally feel like they’re where they wanted to be when they were first introduced in 5E. But with their new magical abilities, comes a change for the worse, flavorwise anyway. Does that make them literally unplayable? Or is that just hyperbole because they can’t by default summon a shadow dog anymore? Let’s find out.
Shadow Sorcerer – Dark Powers, Dark Themes, Dark Days Ahead
First things first, I just want to make it clear. I like the new changes to the Shadow Sorcerer subclass. Sorcerers have struggled in terms of subclass power since the start of 5th Edition. So much so that one of the best subclasses came, not from any specific subclass features – but from the fact that it just added a list of bonus spells.
So stark a difference did that make, that previous sorcery subclasses didn’t feel as good. And this is a game where balance between classes isn’t something that’s explicitly focused on. Why should bonus spells matter so much? It’s the tradeoff that Sorcerers ostensibly get.
You see, in D&D, Sorcerers have magic in their bloodlines. They can use magic inherently – it comes to them naturally instead of via years of study, like some kind of nerd. They use Charisma and are often far too charming for their own good, but that’s neither here nor there. What matters though, is that their power comes with a limited selection of spells.
Which is interesting in 5E and 5.5E, since before this Edition, Sorcerers were the only ones who got to cast spells from a list of things they knew. If you were a Wizard in 3.X edition, you had to prepare each of your spell slots. You couldn’t just prepare say, Shield and Magic Missile. You had to prepare each spell in each slot. So you might prepare two castings of 1st level Magic Missile and two castings of 1st level Shield, for instance. And there was no variation.
That’s where Sorcerers came in. They could cast “spontaneously” picking from a list of spells they always had ready to go. But they had fewer slots and a smaller selection of spells to pick from, in exchange.
That isn’t the case now. Wizards have much more flexibility. And Bards and Warlocks and Paladins and Rangers cast the same way Sorcerers do. Ostensibly, in 5E, Sorcerers had access to metamagic and the ability to create more spell slots if they needed thanks to Sorcery Points. But that felt limited in practice. Like a lot. Subclasses with bonus spells changed that, giving Sorcerers flexibility they sorely needed.
Which is why it’s a huge deal that now in 5.5E, all Sorcerer subclasses have bonus spells that are always a part of their lists. And that, alone, is a huge improvement on the Shadow Sorcerer subclass in the UA.
Shadow Sorcerer: Bonus Spells AND More? In THIS Economy?
Shadow Sorcerers get two big features at level 3. The first, Shadow Spells, is the list of bonus spells. These spells are always on your list, always prepared, always ready to cast. And you get a significant chunk of spells, too. At level 3, you get to add Bane, Darkness, Inflict Wounds, and Pass Without Trace. All perfectly good spells, all on theme. Especially Darkness.
Because your other big level 3 feature is Eyes of the Dark. This is an upgraded version of the 5E Shadow Sorcerer’s ability to see in the dark. You gain Darkvision out to 120 feet, which is pretty good. But you also gain Blindsight out to 10 feet, so you can “see” anything, even invisible creatures. And you can also see thorugh any magical area of darkness that you create via a spell you cast. All of this adds up to a potent combo.
Cast Darkness and then profit immensely while your foes are trapped in the dark and can’t see you. Even better if you have a spell like Hunger of Hadar which creates a magical area of darkness that also restrains your enemies within it so you can trap them and blast them at your leisure while they havea much harder time affecting you.
Oh and speaking of Hunger of Hadar, you gain access to that as part of your Shadow Spells feature at level 5, along with Summon Undead. Then at level 7, you gain Phantasmal Killer and Greater Invisibility, and finally at level 9 you gain Contagion and Creation.
Release The Hound – Wait Not Like That
Then we get to the part that makes Shadow Sorcerers feel literally unplayable. You get an upgrade to your level 6 feature which was previously called Hound of Ill Omen. And while the new feature is bettere in every way, you no longer call forth a howling creature of darkness, you instead cast the Summon Undead spell for free as a part of the renamed Spirit of Ill Omen.
Again, this is a pedantic complaint. Because nothing is stopping you from flavoring this as a shadowy hound. But the change also has some meaningful difference. For one, now you have to concentrate on summoning your spectral companion – unless you modify the spell so that it only lasts 1 minute. Which is probably fine. It is a change that may not resonate with folks, though ecause it is just an extra spell. Maybe there’s a better shadow feature that could go here instead. Maybe something involving catching a creature’s essence or shadow.
At level 14, Shadow Sorcerers gain Shadow Walk. This ability lets you take a Bonus Action to teleport whenever you are in Dim Light or Darkness. You can teleport up to 120 feet to an unoccupied region of Dim Light or Darkness. Which is extremely powerful in the right circumstances. Just get ready to ask your DM what the lighting is like in every room.
Finally, at level 18, you can assume an Umbral Form, which lets you transform as a Bonus Action, giving yourself Incorporeal Movement (but through occupied spaces only), resistance to all damage except Force and Radiant, and if you drop to 0 hit points, you don’t die outright, instead you can make a Charisma save equal to DC 5 plus half the damage dealt. And if you do, instead of dying, your hit points change to become three times your Sorcerer level (starting at 54 hp).
I think this feature is real lackluster in comparison to many of the other capstone subclass features. Sure, it has a cool way to keep you from dying, but that’s only while you’re transformed. And you don’t really get anything that increases your power as a result, just the ability to move through occupied spaces as though they were difficult terrain plus resistance to most damage. Which is nice, but by Level 18 you probably were already resistant to many damage types.
Of course, my opinion isn’t the one that counts. WotC wants to know what YOU think. So be sure and fill out the survey you find at the link below!
Shadow magic might seem dark, but that’s only if you don’t have darkvision.
