Should You Play as a Sorcerer or a Wizard? Comparing the Most Magical Classes in Pathfinder 2e

Where do you turn when spells are the name of your game? Two classes come to mind — the sorcerer and the wizard. They're very similar in the sense that both classes focus almost exclusively on magic, but very different given that sorcerers are born with it and wizards learned it all in school. Why might you want to play as one of these classes in your upcoming campaign? Is one better than the other? Are they both absolutely bangers?

0:00 Intro
1:00 Spontaneous vs Prepared
4:57 Learning New Spells
6:44 Focus Spells
9:50 Additional Magic Abilities
12:46 Spell Count
14:50 Conclusion

[frederickbeuttler]

Take Spell Substitution wizard and get the best of both worlds! Prepare combat spells just in case, then you can take 10min to swap one out for a utility spell

[Reevos]

One category I wish you would have gone over is Charisma vs Intelligence. I find Charisma to be a more useful skill for many adventures etc especially with demoralize, and the skill feats along that path.

[bilboswaggings]

The players I have explained Spontaneous vs Prepared casters to have liked the distinction between being easier to play vs easier to build (as far as spells go specifically, not the classes themselves)

Since if you are spontaneous you are stuck with whatever you choose (DMs ofc sometimes allow swapping for new players especially) so the spell aspect of building a character is harder for spontaneous, but they are easier to play day to day especially since you don't feel as bad not having a spell... nothing hurts more than realizing you should have prepared a different spell after the fact, hindsight is 20/20 after all

[tbruce]

I prefer Sorcerer just because I enjoy charisma based characters more.

[gabrielrockman]

I prefer the Sorcerer to the Wizard. I like to build a character that specializes in a certain type of magic, rather than building a jack of all trades character that has a useful spell for any situation. It feels like my character has more of an identity or personality, more to roleplay with if I specialize in one type of magic than if I'm a jack of all trades when it comes to magic.

In our current campaign, I'm playing an intelligence based spell caster, but I'm doing a Psychic with the Witch free archetype (because I really don't want to play a Wizard, I suppose). I specialize in control spells, mental damage, and slashing/bleed damage (and I have Soothe & Dispel Magic for healing/utility).

I really don't mind having a smaller number of spells known. I'm also quite happy that I don't have to tell my DM what spells I have prepared each day, especially since we rarely think about it when completing a long rest. I really wouldn't want to be put on the spot every time we finish a long rest and having to answer if I'm making any changes to what spells I have prepared, especially if that means having a discussion about what I think the party will do that day, and how I want to adjust to that. I remember doing that in D&D 5e when I played a Cleric, and I really didn't enjoy that aspect of spellcasting. It ended up being that I would very rarely change what spells I had prepared each day, because it just wasn't worth the time to try to predict what more unique spell might actually come in handy that day.

[kidrissa]

Ok, you got me. Between this new series (I'm very much looking forward to it!) and your "How I Got Hooked on PF2e" video, I've subscribed. Helpful info for a new player trying to figure it all out. 👍🏾

[sethb]

One thing you didn't mention about spontaneous and prepared casting is heightening spells. To heighten a spell, a sorcerer has to either make it a signature spell or learn that spell at a higher rank. They can only cast the spell at a rank they've learned it at, so if you don't set Magic Missile as signature and don't pick say 5th rank magic missile as your new spell at level 9, you will be stuck with 1st rank magic missile forever.

Prepared casters decide what rank to prepare a spell at every day. If they think they need a high-power magic missile, they can just stick it in a high rank slot.

Overall though, I think the power of a wizard depends a lot on your ability to get Intel about things ahead of you. A wizard that has to just guess what might be lurking out there will always fall behind a wizard that knows they're going up a treacherous mountain into a cave of illusion traps to slay a black dragon.

[jonathanbennison]

12:34

A neglected feature, doesn't impact the game positively.

Agreed.
Like, a Bard who doesn't Inspire.
A familiar that isn't used. Especially one that has feats invested in it, and then still is neglected.
A Domain that doesn't find frequent valuable use.
Etc. Etc. Etc.

[VinceTenia]

I once ran a short campaign for some friends that was a riff on the storm kings thunder campaign. A friend came with a sorcerer who was supposed to be a reincarnation of a long dead lesser deity of winter so all their spells were cold and weather themed. In the first session this wasn't a problem but since the rest of the campaign was about fighting Ice Giants on frozen tundra and mountain peaks we came up with a (character) lore friendly work around which has become a staple magic item in my campaigns. Spontaneous casters can find a magic spell tome that allows them to; once per day, replace a spell in their repertoire with one from the spell book as well as store their previously known spell in the book. The book can only store 10 spells and can only store spells up to 5th level. Over the next 3 sessions that player had replaced almost every spell they initial had and sometimes swapped back and forth for some utility during exploration and was happy to return to theme when the next campaign moved south for some island hopping Piracy. They still have the book but I'm pretty sure they don't have a single spell it originally contained in it anymore.

[SigurdBraathen]

Great video!
One benefit sorcerers have: They're Key charisma and thus are better at Bon Mot! (which can debuff will save)

[jacksonhorrocks]

With spell number, it's probably worth noting that preparing a spell you don't cast wastes a spellslot unless you have the 10 min. Swap feat. Thus a Sorcerer is probably less likely to waste spell slots.

[Tenuto]

Loved your explanation!

Some people argue whether Prepared is better or whether Spontaneous is better.

The correct answer is...take both! In PF2e, you play in a PARTY! The beauty of having both a Spontaneous and a Prepared caster is that the Prepared caster will always have amazing longterm versatility and diversity while the Spontaneous caster has a lot more specialization and flexibility.

Neither are better, but simply two different ways to approach the Spell Slot system.

[ericwollaston]

I have a Gnome Water Elemental Sorcerer that I used in Age of Ashes. With a Dragon Scholar background, I used my blood magic intimidation boost often as my character oozed water-power after spells. Fun

[timbritton]

Did you forget Signature spells for sorcerers? They auto heighten (if that spell does of course) for each level and powers up easier. Whereas for a wizard to cast a lvl 4 fireball for instance, that spell slot would need to be used.

[Freeze]

wizard's int and recall knowledge associated skills, are a big PLUS for the wizard.

[TheLocalDisasterTourGuide]

I'm playing a Staff Nexus Wizard in my friend's 2e campaign, and we just hit 5th level.

And, I have to say, I'm kinda mad with power now! LOL!

[PsiPrimeProductions]

Something else to take into account, Wizards can use downtime to memorize, then 'fix' problems of themselves or party members. For example, if a fighter picked up a cursed sword that he couldn't get rid of, a WIZARD could, next day, memorize, then cast dispel magic on the sword and turn it into a normal sword (for 10 minutes) that the fighter could drop. A Sorcerer is unlikely to even have dispel magic (as its so situational) and even if they did, it is unlikely to be their signature spell so they could't cast it at their highest spell rank.
(okay, bad example, dispel magic says UNATTENDED object, but I think most reasonable GMs would let a willing person have their sword be affected.)

[aliciaseelentanz]

I don't know how much this factors in for people, but Sorcerer gets much more choice in the spell lists they use. My personal favourite class is Angelic Sorcerer for the Divine support/healiing spells and the overall theming and roleplay possibilities for the character (I know people generally say Cleric is a better healer, but Angelic Sorcerer is strong enough and provides a very different feeling to a Cleric) whereas to my knowledge, I think Wizards are only able to use the Arcane spell list, compared to Sorcerer being able to choose depending on their Bloodline. As someone that loves playing healer/support characters as well as Charisma focused characters, that's a big factor for me and I think its worth at least noting even if it may not be a big deal to some other players.

[tinear]

I am among those who missed the discrepancy between the wizard text (3 spells at level 1) vs table 3-19 (only 2 spells).
TBH I still prefer sorcerer for the flavor, but you really have to lean in on your bloodline. If you don’t love your granted spells and focus spells, your options go way down.

[AlexKlindt]

The wizard is undoubtedly more powerful due to its higher ceiling. The accessibility of learning new spells and the ability to easily slot in to crafting scrolls and other magical items gives a serious edge on top of the extra spell a day. However the wizard player needs to put the work in both in and out of table to figure out how to best apply their tools.

The biggest edge the sorc player has over the wizard is access to their choice of spell list. The primal list in particular really shines on a spontaneous caster due to having a lot of the "bread and butter" spells across the traditions on it. The list has heal, fear, haste, fireball etc. along with good summoning and polymorph choices.