Armour lasts until you long rest. So yeah, all the time to be ready, unless you picked the Draconic Bloodline option for your sorcerer, in which case don't bother with it, and swap it out for something else when leveling gives you the option. But spells that last all day, you generally want to cast first thing after long resting. Other such spells are ones like Longstrider, Speak with Animals, Aid (cleric spell), and so on. Ritual spells are also good to use out of combat, as they won't eat your spell slots then. Some of those, like Longstrider, last until you long rest. Others will have limited durations. But either way, ritual ones you can freely use out of combat.
As for level 5 vs level 3, the fight can be won, but it'll be harder. And there's a difference between a whole pack of level 5s, just 3 levels 5s, and a single one by himself. So I guess it depends. Since you're struggling, though, probably better to come back later. Save often enough, and if it doesn't work out well, either try again with a different strategy or bug out for now.
For order of spells, it will tend to be largely situational. You might want to hit some casters with Silence. You might want to Magic Missile down a lower hp opponent or one concentrating on a spell that you want ended. Or maybe you'll drop Stinking Cloud on a group, or put a particular enemy to sleep. It really all depends on what you are focused on, your team composition, the terrain, and the enemies.
Last edited by Talismina; 09/10/23 02:23 PM.