D&D 5E I am looking to build a Fighter/Sorcerer

[Slit518]

I am looking to build a Fighter/Sorcerer character, I am going Variant Human.

At first level I am picking up Fighter to get the proficiency in Armor, Shields, Simple, and Martial weapons, as well as a fighting style. I am going at least 2 levels of Fighter so I can get Action Surge. Now I am debating, should I go 5 levels of Fighter, so I can specialize in Battlemaster, get a statistical upgrade or feat, and then get an Extra Attack? That is my train of thought right now.

When I select Sorcerer, I am debating on two bloodlines. Either Dragon for it's defensive purposes, or Favored Soul. Favored Soul does eventually get a second attack, but at level 6. If that is the case, perhaps I should only take 2 levels of Fighter and miss out on Battlemaster.

The Battlemaster techniques were going to be used for when I got low on spells, and since they replenish on a Short Rest, I will have them most of the day. Action Surge was going to be used so I could potentially cast two spells in one round, I could use this when I'm in a pinch.

The feat I planned on taking for 1st level due to variant human is the Heavy Armor Master feat, so I can get -3 damage to non-magical forms of bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing. This would help me live longer as a front line man with spells, as I couldn't picture hoards of enemies wielding magical weapons, especially at low levels.

What are your thoughts/suggestions?

 

[mellored]

The biggest issue with it is you want both Str, Cha, and heavy armor mastery and warcaster. which is a bit tight, but not impossible.

Otherwise stop at fighter 3 and use booming blade/green flame blade. It scales automatically. Use battlemaster's precision strike to help land the attacks.

 

[Slit518]

The biggest issue with it is you want both Str, Cha, and heavy armor mastery and warcaster. which is a bit tight, but not impossible.

Otherwise stop at fighter 3 and use booming blade/green flame blade. It scales automatically. Use battlemaster's precision strike to help land the attacks.

If I do 4 levels of Fighter I can get Warcaster easy.

 

[Valetudo]

Go 6 levels of fighter and go EK. Dump INT and grab defense and utility spells with your EK levels. Use the level 6 asi to shore up your MAD stats.

 

[CapnZapp]

I am looking to build a Fighter/Sorcerer character, I am going Variant Human.

At first level I am picking up Fighter to get the proficiency in Armor, Shields, Simple, and Martial weapons, as well as a fighting style. I am going at least 2 levels of Fighter so I can get Action Surge. Now I am debating, should I go 5 levels of Fighter, so I can specialize in Battlemaster, get a statistical upgrade or feat, and then get an Extra Attack? That is my train of thought right now.

When I select Sorcerer, I am debating on two bloodlines. Either Dragon for it's defensive purposes, or Favored Soul. Favored Soul does eventually get a second attack, but at level 6. If that is the case, perhaps I should only take 2 levels of Fighter and miss out on Battlemaster.

The Battlemaster techniques were going to be used for when I got low on spells, and since they replenish on a Short Rest, I will have them most of the day. Action Surge was going to be used so I could potentially cast two spells in one round, I could use this when I'm in a pinch.

The feat I planned on taking for 1st level due to variant human is the Heavy Armor Master feat, so I can get -3 damage to non-magical forms of bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing. This would help me live longer as a front line man with spells, as I couldn't picture hoards of enemies wielding magical weapons, especially at low levels.

What are your thoughts/suggestions?

You need to keep one thing foremost in your mind: as a Sorcerer you need Sorcerer levels.

How far will this campaign take you? (Your best guess based on your DMs plans)

If it ends at around level 10 or so - go single-classed Sorcerer.

If it ends at around level 15 or so - take only the minimum levels of Fighter you need (that is, two)

Only if you have reason to believe you will play all the way up to highest levels should you consider taking four to six levels of Fighter.

Why? For the simple reason that otherwise you aren't really a Sorcerer! If you begin by taking six levels of Fighter in Storm King's Thunder campaign, for instance, you will probably spend half the time as a pure fighter, and almost the entire campaign as a Fighter with a few Sorcerer levels. And that's not really a Sorcerer!

 

[CapnZapp]

Note how I hold spellcasters to different standards than other martial classes.

For instance, in my campaign, I have a Ranger with 6 fighter levels, and a Monk with 4 fighter levels. Yet, the campaign is expected to end around level fifteen.

Why? Because Ranger and Monk work much more directly in conjunction with fighter levels.

In contrast, you need spells if you want to call yourself a spellcaster, and so it is a mistake to delay your spellcasting prowess more than what is absolutely necessary.

So while I can see a case for picking up Action Surge at level 2, I cannot recommend a Sorcerer to stay in the fighter class for much longer than that.

The core issue is that Extra Attack is fundamentally incompatible with Cast Spell. One and the same character rarely gains any optimization by picking up both.

Of course, if you want to play a multiclassed martial/spellcaster it's a different story. But if you're thinking of playing an effectively dual classed fighter/sorcerer we need to have a completely different discussion, where we talk about Eldritch Knights and Bladesingers (and even Paladins!)

 

[Horwath]

I would suggest 2 levels of paladin instead of fighter. It goes so much better with sorcerer.

You get some spell slots, divine smite, all the proficiencies and fighting style.

 

[WarpedAcorn]

I would suggest 2 levels of paladin instead of fighter. It goes so much better with sorcerer.

You get some spell slots, divine smite, all the proficiencies and fighting style.

I was going to suggest this. Either go Paladin 2 / Sorcerer X or Paladin 6 / Sorcerer X. Basically the former if you want to be more of a spellcaster and the latter if you want to lean more towards the melee. The Divine Strike feature would also allow you to effectively magically-empower your melee attack(s) to give more of the feel of someone who is blending melee and magic.

Regardless, I would recommend starting off as a Fighter and taking Sorcerer at level 2. Like CapnZapp said, if you wait 7 levels to start your magical career, you're really more of a Fighter by that point. But if you take the Sorcerer level early (even just one), you can start blending the spellcasting into your regular play and "feel" more like a Fighter/Sorc. Plus, since Cantrips scale with Character level, even though you might delay an extra attack you can still stay competitive with spells like Green-Flame Blade.

 

[Slit518]

That is why I may pick Favored Soul. They get an extra attack.

I forgot to mention, this game will rotate DMs through several of us in the group, myself included.

 

[Iain_Coleman]

Action Surge, uniquely, gives you the ability to cast two non-cantrip spells in a single round. So I'd say two fighter levels to get action surge, then 3-5 levels in sorcerer before progressing further in fighter, and take it from there.