Struggling to build Sorlock for solo evil Durge run

[Fliqpy]

I'm at a loss as to what my build should be. As for Sorcerer I think I have it figured out, Draconic Sorcerer with Lightning ancestry. I just don't know how many levels I want to put into it. I want to have a ton of powerful spells at my disposal, but at the same time I really want to break this character as early as possible so... I dunno.
As for Warlock, I think going as high as 3 might be a good idea because of Darkness but at the same time it doesn't seem that strong since apparently enemies can fire arrows into it (and I think spells too?). It would be pretty bad if I faced too many enemies at once. I want to obliterate enemies with Eldritch Blast but at the same time I don't want to give up access to a ton of powerful spells. But again, I really want to break this character.
I don't want to multiclass any further than I already am as I feel it would be too much.

[A Disembodied Intelligence]

2 Warlock
6 Draconic Sorcerer Lightning
Is a big power spike for the build it sounds like you want, so that'd be "breaking" the character at level 8.

This gives you:
Normal Spellslots: 4x Lvl 1, 3x Lvl 2, 3x Lvl 3
Warlock Spellslots: 2x Lvl 1 that refresh on short rest

It also gives you your empowered Eldritch Blasts and your empowered Lightning Spells (along with Chromatic Orb and Lightning Bolt), so you get to keep your options open like you seem to want to.

Sorcerer metamagic requires Sorcery Points, you can get Sorcery Points by sacrificing spellslots per long rest to get more Sorc Points. Typically you'll want at least 6 available to you for each big fight, as the Quicken metamagic (which lets you cast a spell with your Bonus Action instead of Action) requires 3 Sorc Points to use.

Warlock Spellslots can be used to charge your Sorc Points and they recharge on Short Rest rather than Long Rest, so what you can do is after each long rest convert your 4 Normal Lvl 1 Spellslots into Sorc Points and then also convert your 2 Warlock Lvl 1 Spellslots into Sorc points and you've just gained 6 Sorc Points with the option of getting 2 more per Short Rest from your Warlock Spellslot pool.

As for the rest of the build, you now have a few options available to you:

More Warlock:
If you continue to level up Warlock, then when you're at level 5 Warlock (level 11 total), your Warlock Spellslots will be Level 3, this means you're getting a lot more Sorc Points from using them but also that you can now cast your level 3 spells (like Lightning Bolt) per Short Rest rather than per Long Rest. This is really fun.

More Sorcerer:
If you continue to level up Sorcerer (or dip it into Wizard so you can learn spells from Scrolls, but those spells learned from Scrolls will use Intelligence not Charisma), then your Normal Spellslots will increase, lvl 7 Sorc unlocks Lvl 4 spells, Lvl 9 unlocks Lvl 5 spells, Lvl 10 gets you more Spellslots to use those Lvl 5 spells with.
This can be fun too, but if you want to keep your empowered Eldritch Blasts available as an option, you won't be able to get Lvl 6 spells, only up to Lvl 5.

Martial Classes:
If you're happy with the 2 Warlock 6 Sorcerer power level for your spells, you could also now spec into a martial class like Gloom Stalker to get an extra attack at 3 Ranger, or Fighter to get Action Surge at 2 Fighter.

-------

Hope that explains some of your different available options for a Lightning Sorlock nicely and gets you thinking about what you feel will be right for you.

There are probably a bunch more ways you can build it, but those are the ways that come to my mind when I think of what you've described you're looking for, hope it helps!

P.S - One additional cool option is that there is a legendary staff in Act 3 called Markoheshkir that, when you use the Lightning variant of its spell, allows its wielder to cast the Lvl 6 lightning spell Chain Lightning once per short rest, which is a pretty gosh darn powerful thing to be able to do and it doesn't cost any spellslots to use (though you do need to have that staff equipped).

[Fliqpy]

Originally posted by A Disembodied Intelligence:

2 Warlock
6 Draconic Sorcerer Lightning
Is a big power spike for the build it sounds like you want, so that'd be "breaking" the character at level 8.

This gives you:
Normal Spellslots: 4x Lvl 1, 3x Lvl 2, 3x Lvl 3
Warlock Spellslots: 2x Lvl 1 that refresh on short rest

It also gives you your empowered Eldritch Blasts and your empowered Lightning Spells (along with Chromatic Orb and Lightning Bolt), so you get to keep your options open like you seem to want to.

Sorcerer metamagic requires Sorcery Points, you can get Sorcery Points by sacrificing spellslots per long rest to get more Sorc Points. Typically you'll want at least 6 available to you for each big fight, as the Quicken metamagic (which lets you cast a spell with your Bonus Action instead of Action) requires 3 Sorc Points to use.

Warlock Spellslots can be used to charge your Sorc Points and they recharge on Short Rest rather than Long Rest, so what you can do is after each long rest convert your 4 Normal Lvl 1 Spellslots into Sorc Points and then also convert your 2 Warlock Lvl 1 Spellslots into Sorc points and you've just gained 6 Sorc Points with the option of getting 2 more per Short Rest from your Warlock Spellslot pool.

As for the rest of the build, you now have a few options available to you:

More Warlock:
If you continue to level up Warlock, then when you're at level 5 Warlock (level 11 total), your Warlock Spellslots will be Level 3, this means you're getting a lot more Sorc Points from using them but also that you can now cast your level 3 spells (like Lightning Bolt) per Short Rest rather than per Long Rest. This is really fun.

More Sorcerer:
If you continue to level up Sorcerer (or dip it into Wizard so you can learn spells from Scrolls, but those spells learned from Scrolls will use Intelligence not Charisma), then your Normal Spellslots will increase, lvl 7 Sorc unlocks Lvl 4 spells, Lvl 9 unlocks Lvl 5 spells, Lvl 10 gets you more Spellslots to use those Lvl 5 spells with.
This can be fun too, but if you want to keep your empowered Eldritch Blasts available as an option, you won't be able to get Lvl 6 spells, only up to Lvl 5.

Martial Classes:
If you're happy with the 2 Warlock 6 Sorcerer power level for your spells, you could also now spec into a martial class like Gloom Stalker to get an extra attack at 3 Ranger, or Fighter to get Action Surge at 2 Fighter.

-------

Hope that explains some of your different available options for a Lightning Sorlock nicely and gets you thinking about what you feel will be right for you.

There are probably a bunch more ways you can build it, but those are the ways that come to my mind when I think of what you've described you're looking for, hope it helps!

P.S - One additional cool option is that there is a legendary staff in Act 3 called Markoheshkir that, when you use the Lightning variant of its spell, allows its wielder to cast the Lvl 6 lightning spell Chain Lightning once per short rest, which is a pretty gosh darn powerful thing to be able to do and it doesn't cost any spellslots to use (though you do need to have that staff equipped).

Thanks. Which would be best for a solo playthrough? I feel like a lightning build might be tough considering I don't have another character casting Create Water to deal double lightning damage with. I suppose it probably doesn't matter that much considering I could just throw bottles of water at people. Or that said spells are already strong enough anyway.
Casting Darkness as a solo character just sounds OP despite maybe a few downsides. Of course I will be obtaining the deathstalker mantle so maybe not? I dunno.
The other problem is that I will not be able to have access to the Potent Robe without siding with the Grove. Also I already killed Alfira so that doesn't help. On the other hand I've played the game without it so it probably won't be too bad.

[A Disembodied Intelligence]

I've actually only done a solo run with Arcane Trickster Astarion so far, so I'm not sure about one that isn't super Stealth reliant, Lightning mages can definitely one shot a lot of things though so it's probably good for solo.

If you don't mind going Dual Wielder (feat), then you could pick up the Wet Trident from the Bank in Act 3 to make it so your off-hand attack Wets your target then follow it up with a spell. Before Act 3 I guess trying to Wet your targets before the battles begin is a good idea if possible (I dunno if throwing water at someone aggros them or not, it probably wouldn't from Stealth/Darkness), but failing that you are part Sorcerer so using Quicken on Create Water works wonders too.

I think of the three options I presented, going Sorc/Wizard after your 2/8 split is the best for one shot potential against bosses (as you can upcast your lightning spells to level 5), but going Warlock is best for handling general enemies (as you're no longer long rest reliant).

Martial probably isn't the way for a solo with that kind of build, but at the end of the day I'm just guessing when it comes to solo stuff, and you should play whatever seems most fun for you! Good luck!

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by cluxx:

I'm at a loss as to what my build should be.

There are cheat mods that massively increase the amount of XP you get. I would suggest you try using one of them for the purposes of testing out a build strategy. Once you have something you feel comfortable with, you can just disable the mod again and play like normal.

[Fliqpy]

Originally posted by A Disembodied Intelligence:

If you don't mind going Dual Wielder (feat), then you could pick up the Wet Trident from the Bank in Act 3 to make it so your off-hand attack Wets your target then follow it up with a spell. Before Act 3 I guess trying to Wet your targets before the battles begin is a good idea if possible (I dunno if throwing water at someone aggros them or not, it probably wouldn't from Stealth/Darkness), but failing that you are part Sorcerer so using Quicken on Create Water works wonders too.

I just remembered that in Act 1 there's a staff called the Rain Dancer that'll give you Create Water so I could try that instead.