D&D 5E Best MultiClass character build? Why?

[Charlaquin]

Yeah. The "coffeelock" is the full cheese version!

Pretty much any warlock/sorc combo is pretty good though and I'm currently running the opposite (Sorc3/War17) to try out the UA warlock material. Pact of the Chain with an Imp familiar is amazingly useful from a non-combat perspective too, and you still get a ton of spell points with this inverse class combination. I'm a warforged, and since the party usually sleeps 8 hours, i get 2 free hours a night to convert spell points with 6 hours of sentry's rest and an eladrin with a 4 hour trance would get 4 free hours. The genie warlock at level 11 gets one free 10 minute short rest per day, so you could hypothetically cheese out 5 short rests worth of spell points every day before the rest of the party is ready to go. At 11th warlock level, with 5th level slots, that's 15 points x5 short rests per morning, but of course the 3 sorc levels means this absurd amount of points comes online really late.

Ooh, that’s a fun take! Only bummer is you can’t abuse Flexible Casting to convert warlock slots to sorcery points to sorcerer slots (or rather, you can, but your sorcerer slots are only 1st level). But, if you just plan to use those sorcery points for Metamagic, this build is arguably better. And probably easier to convince your DM to allow.

 

[NaturalZero]

Ooh, that’s a fun take! Only bummer is you can’t abuse Flexible Casting to convert warlock slots to sorcery points to sorcerer slots (or rather, you can, but your sorcerer slots are only 1st level). But, if you just plan to use those sorcery points for Metamagic, this build is arguably better. And probably easier to convince your DM to allow.

To be honest, I don't plan on going totally nuts and abusing the short rest mechanic since I only really wanted enough spell points to quicken my EB a comfortable number of times per day. I mainly really really like the Genie pact flavor and the coffeelock reminds me too much of the dirty tricks i used to pull in 3.5e. lol

 

[Leatherhead]

Artificer/Wizard is a nice combination, though relatively under the radar at this point due to the Artificer being a new class.

Starting off as an Artificer gives you medium armor, shields, and proficiency in Constitution saving throws (which is also Concentration checks), making your arcanist significantly less squishy. A fun quirk with level 1 artificer multiclassing is that you retain full spell casting slot progression as if you were a full caster, and you gain access to a few spells that Wizards don't normally have (Guidance, Cure Wounds, and Faerie Fire are particularly nice). As a cherry on the cake, you can use scrolls of Revivify or Restoration in a pinch, which could save your party from a TPK.

Two levels in Artificer nips the spell slot thing in the bud, but you get access to infusions. There are quite a few clever tricks you can perform with infusions (especially if you have two artificers in your party). At the least, you can infuse your shield or wand (or create a Ruby of the War Mage if you like stabbing things) to use it as a focus and stop having to juggle so much.

Three levels in Artificer is most likely going to be used to give you INT based attacks, if you are heart-set on being an INT based gish. You will be noticeably lagging as a Wizard but still get access to Wish at level 20 if you play the rare game that goes that high.

Oh, and if your setting has guns, you know how to use them, which is cool.

 

[ccs]

I've only come close to multi-classing 3 times in 5e (so no, I have no MC 5e characters).

1) From an aborted campaign that began with Lost Mines I have a Human Fighter who has the Magic Initiate feat to represent him being partially possessed by a fire spirit. So for backstory & future RP considerations I limited him to "fire" effects. In the future I had planned to go Eldritch Knight.
I was also pondering MCing into Sorcerer or possibly Warlock as the spirit became stronger..
Alas, the game fell through before I hit 3rd lv.
But I've still got his sheet. So if I ever get to experience 5e again as a player I'm good to go.

2) There was one week during our CoS game where I had to seriously consider MCing my Warlock.
I picked up a magic staff and got possessed by the spirit of an evil wizard. As that items written? That's it. There's no becoming un-possessed & your personality shifts (and not for the better). And my patron would absolutely not continue granting me more Warlock powers. The next time I'd lv up it wouldn't be as a warlock. Or if I did it wouldn't be with my original patron. And Barovia isn't really the place you want to go shopping for a new patron.... So it was probably going to be wizard.
I would've become a Warlock 6/Wizard 1.
Fortunately the DM realized that, because I would play that out, this would destroy everything about one of the best characters in his game & he let a series of Remove Curse & Banishment spells flush the evil spirit out of my warlock.

3) My Barbarian almost MCd into fighter at lv.8
For a very brief moment the party had a Dragonborn Fighter (battlemaster). This rigid & highly disciplined DB was appalled by the halflings complete & utter lack of training. And astounded that none of the other characters had yet bothered to teach her how to fight properly! See, when forced to fight? The halfling didn't actually know what she was doing. She was scared to death & would randomly freak out (rage), swinging & hacking wildly. Anything & anyone in an adjacent square was a potential target. (all attacks when I raged were allocated randomly )
Up to this point the party had learned to deal with this BY NOT BEING ADJACENT TO THE HALFLING in a fight.
Wich did absolutely nothing to help her combat anxiety....
So the DB player & I role-played the Fighter beginning the barbarians "proper" training. With the end goal of me being a Barbarian 7/Fighter 1 the next time I lvd up.
Unfortunately the DB got disintegrated before we hit lv 8, couldn't be saved, & obviously didn't complete my training.
So we rolled an Int check vs a DC (I forget the target #) to see if the barbarian had learned enough to qualify as a fighter. She failed. So she lvd up to barbarian 8 & took the linguistics feat instead, learning enough D&D Egyptian/Arabic to decipher the assorted runes & hiroglyphs that played a large role in the campaign.
(Int is not her dump stat. She's quite intelligent, the d20 just wanted to roll low at the moment of leveling.)

 

[Stoutstien]

I googled the phrase "tandem tactics" as I am unfamiliar with it and it gave me this thread lol. Can you explain the phrase?

New UA feat that allows you use the the help action as a bonus action, with an increased range of 10 ft, and it Targets two Allies at once.

 

[Shiroiken]

One true multi-class (i.e. not 1 level dip) I've seen that was pretty interesting was Champion Fighter/ Thief Rogue*. The idea was to increase critical hit range and get a second attack to improve his sneak attack. It really wasn't an optimal build, but it was fun to watch.

*he would have taken swashbuckler, but it wasn't out yet.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I googled the phrase "tandem tactics" as I am unfamiliar with it and it gave me this thread lol. Can you explain the phrase?

It's when you use a two seated bicycle in order to flank your enemies. best used with a multiclassed beastmaster ranger/chainpact warlock. Put the imp in the front seat and the bear at the back.

Wait, what?

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Bladesinger Wizard/Arcane Trickster Rogue wins for me on several bases:

1. It makes for a better Bladesinger than a straight Bladesinger. Bladesingers just don't have enough actual melee kill power to be worth spending your action on and risk melee for once you get to be a higher level wizard. Sneak attack changes that calculus. Being able to easily disengage is also naturally invaluable to someone with Wizard hit points (even if you do have an insane AC) and makes for a much more viable approach to melee combat for the Bladesinger. Rogue levels also unlock all the finesse weapons you might use with your Bladesong except for the whip (so choose that for your Bladesinger weapon proficiency) including the Hand Crossbow which you could not choose as a Bladesinger weapon proficiency. It also means expertise in Arcana and a better Mage Hand than other Wizards.

2. It makes a better Arcane Trickster than a straight Arcane Trickster. Arcane Tricksters have to wait too long to get enough magic to really up their Rogue game, and while the focus on illusion and enchantment is totally thematic they also gain a lot from combat enhancing and mobility spells (Shield, Absorb Elements, Misty Step) and very much could use a familiar for advantage. By the third level of Wizard they have all the spells and slots they need to be a pretty effective gish. If they push to level 6 they can even get an extra attack. Bladesong also gives a leg up avoiding damage and maintaining concentration, and gives them a little extra mobility. They even get yet one more skill (albeit just Performance) to up their skill monkey game ever so slightly more.

3. It is good any way you slice it. Almost any combination of levels between the two classes makes for a satisfying and powerful character. Near pure Bladesinger Wizard who just has a couple Rogue levels so he gets a single Sneak Attack die and can disengage after he casts Booming Blade is fun. Arcane Trickster who just has two levels of Bladesinger for Bladesong and mastery of 1st level magic is good. Even split is pretty good. Everything in between basically works.

4. It plays well through every level, almost any way you level. It's not a "it'll come online at level eight" multiclass. It's never really not online. As soon as you have 1 level of each class you can be a Rogue with a familiar giving you constant advantage for sneak attack and some magic for personal defense and trickery. Everything else just builds on that. Booming Blade means you don't miss your slowed sneak attack progression too much, waiting longer to get Uncanny Dodge doesn't much hurt when you can cast Shield and have an exceptional AC anyway, and there's so much fun to be had with 1st and 2nd level magic that being behind on Wizard levels rarely feels like a big limitation. It's optimal to take Rogue for level 1, and when there are no special class or subclass features you should take a Wizard level before an equivalent Rogue level for extra spells and spell slot progression, but otherwise there is really no wrong way to progress.

5. It's plenty lore friendly. One subclass is a Rogue who dabbles in wizardry the other a Wizard who dabbles in stabbing people. No troubles finding a character who blends those two things, there just different points on the same spectrum.

 

[ccooke]

How do you define "Best"?

I mean, here's a character concept from my pile of "Would love to play":

Probably something like STR 15, DEX 12, CON 14, INT 13, WIS 10, CHA 8

Level 1: Barbarian.
Levels 2-4 or 2-6: Wizard (School of War Magic)
Levels [5,7]+: Barbarian. For subclass, several work, but if it makes it out of UA the Wild Soul would be perfect.

Concentrate on spells that have no concentration and are good for out-of-combat use or for casting on the first round of a fight. Longstrider is pretty useful there for the speed bonus, Disguise Self is fun, Invisibility works perfectly if you know there's going to be a fight. Comprehend Languages, Unseen Servant, See Invisibility... all great for this. No attack spells, given they probably won't hit much.

Personality? This is a rich kid with anger issues who dropped out of wizard school. They just can't stay calm enough to cast spells in combat, but have some useful out-of-combat tools and a few ways of compensating for their anger. Obsessed with proving themselves, and with a flaw that they respond to stress with violence.

Is this going to be the highest DPS it could be? Of course not. Should be damn fun to play, though, and can make an interesting role in a party. I mean, it literally came from a conversation about what sort of Barbarian/Wizard multiclass would actually be fun for player and group.

 

[jgsugden]

Sorlock/Hexadin are covered above and are classics.

Archer/Divine Soul: Archers (fighter and rogue especially) often lack uses for their bonus actions on certain turns. 1 level of Divine Soul gives you access to one or two bonus action spells that will allow you to heal an ally, improve your AC, give someone sanctuary or increase movement options. 3 levels gives you quicken spell capabilities, allowing you to use your ranger spells or a few other options quickly. 5th level gives you haste, which you can cast as a bonus action, effectively giving you a bonus action attack. My favorite archer was Gloom Stalker 5, Divine Soul 5, Assassin 5, BattleMaster 4, Cleric of Order 1 at the end of the campaign. She was clearly an archer the entire time, but with a lot of great tricks and a really interesting story.