Heaven only knows what ignites the spark of arcane power within some sorcerers.

Literally!

The Divine Soul Sorcerer in D&D 5e gains their power from a connection to some powerful and divine entity. With the Heavens themselves guiding these sorcerers’ way, what can stand before them?

Today we’re turning our attention to the holiest and most divinely-favored of Sorcerous Origins.

This is the full subclass guide to the Divine Soul Sorcerer in D&D 5e!

What is the Divine Soul Sorcerer in D&D 5e?

The Divine Soul Sorcerer is a type of hybrid between the typical Sorcerer and a Cleric.

Like Clerics, these characters offer healing for their allies alongside the power to call down divine judgment upon their enemies.

But, as a Sorcerer, this power is far more natural and raw. This means that spells can take new forms and effects as a result of the Sorcerer’s Metamagic abilities.

What results is a perfect blend of arcane and divine casting abilities.

Thematically, Divine Soul Sorcerers are fated by the will of the Gods. They might be of angelic descent or were simply marked for some higher purpose a particular deity.

The Divine Soul Sorcerer is one of three Sorcerer subclasses introduced in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. It appears alongside the Shadow Magic and Storm Sorcerer subclasses.

Role in the Party

Sorcerers tend to specialize pretty heavily since they don’t have the spell selection of other casters. It’s more about using your Metamagic to adapt spells to a given situation than having a full arsenal of spells at any given moment.

As they say, it’s not the cards you’re dealt but how you play them that counts.

But the Divine Soul Sorcerer breaks from this. They wear multiple hats depending on their party’s composition.

You’ll be pulling from both the Sorcerer and Cleric spell lists. This opens up an entirely new world of how you can build your character!

Not to mention, applying Metamagic to Cleric spells can result in some crazy powerful effects!

At times, you’ll be focusing on healing and supporting your allies. With your subclass features and Metamagic, you’re an exceptional support character for the party!

But you’re so much more than a healer!

Sorcerers, of course, have some powerful blasting spells but don’t ignore the Cleric spell list’s ability to deal damage!

Sorcerer standbys like Fireball and Chromatic Orb are fantastic and powerful tools.

But as a Divine Soul Sorcerer you also have access to powerful Cleric spells like Spirit Guardians, Inflict Wounds, and Spiritual Weapon!

Divine Soul Sorcerer Features 5e

As a hybrid between the Sorcerer and Cleric classes, Divine Soul Sorcerers get some remarkably powerful features.

Specifically, you’ll be gaining a ton of new spells in addition to healing buffs for yourself and your allies. Not to mention you’ll also be gaining the ability to grow wings and fly!

Let’s dive in and look at the features individually!

Divine Magic (Level 1)

Right from the start, you gain the Divine Magic feature.

With this, you can take spells from either the Sorcerer or Cleric spell lists when you are learning or replacing a sorcerer cantrip or spell. The spell you choose becomes a Sorcerer spell for you.

Because it’s a Sorcerer spell for you, you’ll be using your Charisma instead of Wisdom for a spell you pull from the Cleric list.

Keep in mind that you still must follow any restrictions for casting a spell in this way. If you take Revivify, for example, you’ll still need to have 300gp worth of diamonds for the spell’s material component.

This may sound small, but it is anything but!

Having access to two entire spell lists is incredible. Never mind that the Cleric list is arguably the best in the game!

Recommended: The Best Sorcerer Spells By Level in D&D 5e

Divine Magic Affinity

You also learn a bonus spell based on your affinity for your Divine Magic. This will be similar to alignment in that the affinities are law, chaos, good, evil, and neutral.

The spell you gain counts as a Sorcerer spell for you and doesn’t count against the number of spells you know. If you replace this spell later, you’ll need to replace it with another spell from the Cleric spell list.

AffinityBonus Spell
GoodCure Wounds
EvilInflict Wounds
LawBless
ChaosBane
NeutralityProtection From Evil and Good

This feature doesn’t specifically say that the affinity is the same as your alignment but having those be the same does generally make more sense.

The Good, Law, and Neutral affinities offer the best spells.

Cure Wounds is always handy to have (especially if your party is lacking in the heals department!) I’m very partial to the Bless spell since it’s never not useful, but Protection From Evil and Good is a great defensive option!

You’ll quickly out-level Inflict Wounds as a damage option. Bane is decent when it works, but it’s a risky option considering how small of a debuff it is.

All in all, I’d prioritize buffing/healing the party over debuffing enemies.

Favored by the Gods (Level 1)

Is there any better feeling than when the Gods have their thumb on the scale in your favor?

If you fail a saving throw or miss with an attack roll, you can roll 2d4 and add it to the total, possibly changing the outcome. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

This is another fantastic feature right out of the gate for the Divine Soul Sorcerer!

There are other features in the game like Bardic Inspiration that give similar effects. However, this involves rolling two dice which statistically tilts the odds even better in your favor!

Then there’s a little extra icing on top of this feature…

Recovering your use of Favored by the Gods on a short rest means you’ll virtually always have that extra little push you need to be successful!

Keep in mind that you don’t have to use this before knowing the result of a roll. If the DM says that you failed your saving throw or missed your attack, you can still choose to use this.

As a bit of extra fortune at the last second, this can be a make-or-break moment in an otherwise dangerous situation!

Related: Mastering the Sorcerer’s Metamagic!

Empowered Healing (Level 6)

Feel that healing light shine upon you! At level 6, you get an extra buff to your healing abilities!

Whenever you or an ally within 5 feet of you rolls dice to determine the number of hit points a spell restores, you can spend 1 sorcery point to reroll any number of those dice once, provided you aren’t incapacitated.

You can use this feature only once per turn.

It’s a sad feeling when you roll poorly, especially when it comes to healing. Empowered Healing lets you use your sorcery points to make the most of your healing spell slot. Especially when it comes to your valuable spell slots, efficiency is key!

But we do need to break this feature down just a bit more so that you’re using it correctly.

When in combat, healing is best for getting your allies back up if they drop to zero hit points. If you’re trying to keep everyone in tip-top shape throughout the fight, you’re wasting a ton of spell slots.

In the case of the Divine Soul Sorcerer, you’re probably also going to end up wasting a bunch of sorcery points as well!

Effective resource management is the name of the game when you’re playing a sorcerer. Empowered Healing plays directly into that.

In combat, heal enough to keep your allies in the fight. Out of combat, you can focus on healing them up more if a short rest (and spending hit dice!) isn’t possible.

So Empowered Healing is more there to help you get the most out of your healing spells and ultimately save spell slots. It’s not meant to incentivize you to spend even more spell slots or sorcery points.

In those clutch, do-or-die moments, Empowered Healing will go far.

Just be prepared to make a judgment call! Spending a sorcery point to just reroll a couple of dice can be a steep cost if it’s not absolutely necessary.

Otherworldly Wings (Level 14)

At level 14, it’s time to take to the skies with the Divine Soul’s Otherworldly Wings feature!

You can use a bonus action to manifest a pair of spectral wings from your back.

While the wings are present, you have a flying speed of 30 feet. The wings last until you’re incapacitated, you die, or you dismiss them as a bonus action.

You can fly now.

Like… permanently…

AWESOME!

You have fantastic mobility now and should have no problem always maintaining the best positioning in combat.

Defensively, you’re safe from enemies who rely on melee attacks. Not to mention, you’ll have little to no problem getting around traps, defenses, or AoE effects.

Offensively, you’re able to blast enemies to bits from virtually any angle. If someone tries to make a run for it, you’ve got aerial superiority on your side!

As for the wings themselves, their appearance is based on your Divine Affinity that we were talking about for your level 1 features.

Good or Lawful affinity grants you feathery eagle wings. If you prefer Chaos or Evil, the wings more resemble that of a bat. If you’re neutral, you get dragonfly wings.

Of course, the odds are pretty good that your DM will let you tweak the appearance however best fits your character, so don’t be afraid to ask if none of these quite “feel” right.

Also Check Out: The Complete Guide to the Sorcerer Class in D&D 5e

Unearthly Recovery (Level 18)

At this point, clever enemies might be picking you out as an important target.

While you’re flying around, healing your allies, and blasting as many baddies as you can, you might find yourself attracting some attention. Specifically, I mean the kind of attention that doesn’t like what you’re doing and has bows or spells to throw at you.

If you find yourself taking some heavy damage, don’t worry! Time for an Unearthly Recovery!

As a bonus action when you have fewer than half of your hit points remaining, you can regain a number of hit points equal to half your hit point maximum.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

By this level, you’ve got plenty of healing options, but that doesn’t make this any less fantastic. I’m certainly not going to complain about a free heal!

Even better, this is only a bonus action. Because you’ve still got your action and this isn’t a spell, you can go ahead and throw a fireball or cast a healing spell on an ally.

Between your flying mobility and the fact that you’re probably sticking toward the back of the party, hopefully, you won’t need to bust this out too often.

But when you need it, this is a fantastic ace to have up your sleeve for those long combats when things start to get dire!

After all, nobody needs to stay conscious more than the ones with healing spells!

Connections

A Divine Soul might have inherited their powers through generations.

With the power of the Angels flowing in their veins, it’s only a matter of time before that power makes itself known! Are these powers a known thing within your family or has it only recently manifested?

On the other hand, maybe you are a child of fate.

Born under the right stars and chosen by the Gods for some greater purpose, it’s only now that these gifts have awakened within you.

The very nature of the Divine Soul Sorcerer means that temples and religious orders are bound to take a keen interest in these characters.

Does the appearance of a Divine Soul mark some kind of prophecy or message? Does your character work within one of these orders or do they shun them?

Of course, it’s also possible that the appearance of a Divine Soul might challenge certain teachings or hierarchies within a religious order!

A Divine Soul Sorcerer that embraces their origin might join a party out of some higher calling. Meanwhile, one that is trying to learn the origins of who they are might hope to find information by adventuring.

If a Divine Soul Sorcerer rejects their origins or the influence of a particular religious order, life as an adventurer might be a good way for them to escape such agendas.

This is a very rich subclass with no shortage of ways to connect them to the story and party!

Is the Divine Soul Sorcerer Good?

It’s hard to overstate just how amazing the Divine Soul Sorcerer is. It’s incredible!

Honestly, the only thing that might turn some people away is that this is one of the more difficult subclasses to play. I hope this guide has helped with that, but there’s also a responsibility for knowing what spells to take depending on your own unique party capabilities.

When you have access to both the Sorcerer and Cleric spell lists, it can be easy to get overwhelmed by so many options. Trust me, there are PLENTY of good spells on both!

You don’t want to spread yourself too thin, but you also don’t want to find yourself over-specializing.

There will be times that you need to drop a ton of healing to pick your allies back up, but you want to make sure you’re also able to bring some divine judgment upon your enemies!

Analysis Paralysis can be rough, but you’ll find a selection of spells to keep handy that rounds out your party and plays to your strengths.

See how the Divine Soul Sorcerer stacks up in my full ranking of every Sorcerer subclass in D&D 5e!

Conclusion – Divine Soul Sorcerer in D&D 5e

It seems like sorcerers get picked on a lot, but the Divine Soul subclass really highlights what makes sorcerers so fun and unique. Taking spells and remixing them with your Metamagic can produce all kinds of crazy, new, and clutch effects.

Plus, I just love the flavor behind this subclass. It gives so much room to figure out who the character is and how they interact with the world around them.

Have you played or are considering playing a Divine Soul Sorcerer? I’d love to hear about the character! Leave a comment below and let’s chat!

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