VIII. Multiclassing
Basics to remember:
- You need to meet the attribute prerequisites of ALL your planned classes, including your initial class. So, to multiclass as a Paladin, you’ll always need at least STR 13 and CHA 13, in addition to the prerequisite of any other classes you want. Making it a little more difficult for Paladins to multiclass and limiting their class options.
- Multiple instances of Extra Attack do not stack. Want three attacks? Take 11 Fighter levels. It’s the only way.
- You do NOT get proficiency in heavy armor if you start as another class and multiclass into Paladin.
- Ability Score Increases, and by extension feats, are considered class features at set levels like everything else. Which means in many cases, you may fall short of the five expected of most single-class characters’ progression. Sometimes being an ASI/feat short may be worth it, but more often it may not be. Being two or more ASI/feats short is almost never worth it. Consider the tradeoffs carefully, in any event.
- You NEVER get the saving throw proficiencies of your new class. If you want another class’ save proficiencies to start, then you need to start as a member of that class.
Strive for 5:
A general look at all the classes will show you that the class’ 5th level is where a MASSIVE power jump occurs, particularly offensively. Warrior-type classes get their Extra Attack at that level. Full spellcaster classes get 3rd-level spells, the first real powerful level of spells. For Rogues, that’s when Sneak Attack really starts taking off. While all classes have their other major and significant levels, Lv. 5 is the first and most important of them all.
Ergo, if you’re going for a multiclass build of any sort, your first goal is to hit Lv. 5 in one class ASAP, likely your major. Pretty much without exception. Which means if you’re starting and majoring as a Paladin, you want to be a Paladin 5 and get Extra Attack before you even think of branching out.
If you started as Lv. 1 in another class (which does have its merits for some builds, notably Fighter and Rogue dips), then you need to take your next 5 levels in the Paladin class. Getting to Lv. 5 one level behind is probably tolerable, at worst you limit yourself to just one level of inadequacy. Falling two or more levels behind in that department, on the other hand,
is a terrible idea.
Example of above: If dipping Fighter, starting as a Fighter gets automatic CON save proficiency without giving up anything else. That’s great! But your next 5 levels should be all Paladin. You’ll get Extra Attack at character Lv. 6, then, which is a level late, but probably tolerable for most. As tempting as Action Surge looks at Fighter 2, hold off on it until you took your 5 vital Paladin levels. (After all, Action Surge works much better with Extra Attack in play, anyway.)
What you give up:
When planning a multiclass build for the long term, all the way to Lv. 20, it’s important to look at your primary class’ last few features, counting backwards from Lv. 20, and compare them to the levels from your secondary class(es)’ to see if it’s a build worth pursuing.
- Lv. 20 Paladin for Lv. 1 dip: You give up your Oath-based capstone power (and less significantly one spell preparation). Typically, the Oath capstone is fairly strong, but usually not a gamebreaker, so there are several cases in which a Lv. 1 dip of a class might be a fair trade for giving that up.
- Lv. 19 Paladin for Lv. 2 dip: You give up your last ASI or feat and one 5th-level spell slot (if you don’t multiclass with another caster). That is pretty significant. You want to make sure that what you gain at Lv. 2 (or Lv. 3 if you’re going further in your dip) is worth this sacrifice. Fighter’s Action Surge? Yeah, I’d say that’s worth it. The Sorcerer’s Lv. 2? Not worth it unless you’re going for the real prize at Lv. 3. The Monk’s Lv. 2? Not worth it at all.
- Lv. 18 Paladin for Lv. 3 dip: You give up your Auras’ expansions from 10 feet to 30 feet. That’s a pretty strong ability from a tactical standpoint, so you want to make sure that your dip’s Lv. 3 is at least competitive with that, or otherwise results in a strong central build concept.
- Lv. 17 Paladin for Lv. 4 dip: Well, if you want to get back to your maximum number of ASIs/feats, here you go. Unfortunately, the price you pay for that is 5th-level Paladin spells, a few of which are pretty strong. It’s up to you to decide whether such a trade is worth it.
- Lv. 16 Paladin for Lv. 5 dip: You give up another ASI/feat, knocking you back to one less than the maximum. This is not a level you want to give up lightly. Remember that Extra Attack from another class does not stack. And while a full caster’s 3rd-level spell list might look good, it’s probably not enough to consider taking Lv. 5 in that class unless you’re going for something else a few more levels into that class. Thus, if you’re going to stop at a Lv. 5 dip, that class needs to have a particularly appealing feature beyond a new spell level or Extra Attack (ex: Bard’s Font of Inspiration); otherwise, don’t bother.
- Lv. 15 Paladin for Lv. 6 dip: You give up a 4th-level spell slot (if you don’t multiclass with another caster), which can hurt. You also give up your Oath’s Lv. 15 feature. For Devotion and Ancients Paladins, that’s solid but not a total gamechanger. For Vengeance, it’s pretty significant. For Oathbreakers, it’s very significant. In any case, you’ll want to make sure that Lv. 6 feature you’re chasing is worth the trade, or any levels beyond that are worth pursuing.
- Lv. 14 Paladin for Lv. 7 dip: You give up Cleansing Touch. Not a hard sacrifice if you find the other class’ Lv. 7 gains attractive. (Warlock 7 is particularly appealing.)
Multiclass options:
Barbarian: A real mixed bag. CON-save proficiency if you start as a Barbarian is nice, as is Reckless Attack, but most Rage benefits require you to not be in heavy armor (and thus indirectly make you more MAD since you’ll need more DEX than most STR-based Paladins are willing to get). It can be an interesting choice, but in terms of pure functionality you’re better off dipping Fighter if anything at all.
- Lv. 1: All of Rage’s key benefits require you to not be in heavy armor, and at this level you only get two of them per day. Eh.
- Lv. 2: Reckless Attack’s advantage is great, though you’ll be quite vulnerable after you use it, with not enough Rages per day to justify putting yourself in that kind of danger consistently. Advantage on initiative is neat.
- Lv. 3: Bear Totem’s resistance to all damage does work in heavy armor, so that’s good. (If you started as a Barbarian, however, you don’t have heavy armor proficiency … oops). You do get one more Rage per day, too.
Bard: Perfectly compatible stats qualifying-wise and spellcasting-wise (CHA 13), making this a solid MC option. You get an extra skill of your choice when entering this, too, along with some extra spellcasting and leader-type stuff. Cantrips and spell list overall not quite as good as the Sorcerer or Warlock, though, so it’s a bit behind those.
- Lv. 1: A couple cantrips and four Bard spells known, which you can go nuts with since they use CHA just like you, and CHA-mod uses of Bardic Inspiration per day. A good dip level, though not as potent as the Sorcerer or Warlock.
- Lv. 2: Jack of All Trades is a nice boost to your non-proficient skills (and initiative!), and Song of Rest is pretty good. You also end up one spellcaster “level” ahead of a straight Paladin of the same level.
- Lv. 3: Expertise in two skills plus Bard College. Typically you go Lore for Cutting Words, which works well if you’re playing a Defender role to penalize an enemy’s attack roll as a reaction with your Inspiration dice.
- Lv. 5: Your Inspiration uses all become short-rest recharge. Particularly nice if you have Cutting Words, although at this point you gave up 5th-level Paladin spells.
Cleric: Appropriate thematically and potentially effective, just mind the fact you need a WIS 13, so you'll be a bit more MAD than usual. And you'll want to pick a Domain with as few WIS-reliant features and spells as possible. (Life is particularly good here.)
- Lv. 1: Life gives ALL of your healing spells, not just Cleric ones, a nice power-up independent of your WIS score. This is ESPECIALLY grand with Aura of Vitality, with the bonus being applied each time the healing kicks in! Having Bless always on tap as a domain spell is also pretty sweet. As for your two cantrips, Guidance obviously, and then probably either Light or Mending.
- Lv. 6: Channel Divinity twice per short rest, a pretty good reward for dipping into Cleric this far.
Druid: Same WIS 13 requirement as the Cleric, and not nearly the rewards for the extra MAD. Avoid.
Fighter: If you plan a multi here, it’s pretty much strictly better to start as a Fighter. You give up no armor proficiencies by doing so, and you’d get Constitution as a save proficiency, the best “common” save to get. (That said, it wouldn’t hurt to take Resilient (WIS) later, anyway.) Easy as cake to enter with STR 13 prerequisite.
- Lv. 1: A Fighting Style (Defense actually is a good pick if you’re going to get two styles), and Second Wind. Pretty decent, if all you wanted was to start as a Fighter for the CON proficiency.
- Lv. 2: Action Surge, the premier nova ability. An extra action means double the number of attacks you can add Smites to, if there’s ever a fight where you just need to go ham.
- Lv. 3: A few good picks for the Fighter archetype here. Battle Master with Riposte and Precision Attack maneuvers. Champion if you’re Oath of Vengeance and want to critfish for double-damage Smites. Eldritch Knight if you want cantrips, Shield, Absorb Elements and Find Familiar. Cavalier (XGTE) for extra skill, marking and STR-based punishment and a decent mounted ribbon that plays nice with Find Steed. Samurai (XGTE) for a turn of on-demand advantage when you Action Surge and an extra skill.
Monk: Uh, hells no. You’d need 13s in STR, DEX, WIS and CHA to even attempt this. And you get in return a Martial Arts ability that only works without armor and shield, and if you go for a few more levels, not enough ki to do anything worthwhile.
Ranger: Same ultra-MADness problem as the Monk makes this multiclass prohibitive for most. Unlike Monk, however, at least dipping Ranger has some things going for it that Paladins can use. Plus Ranger levels at least recoup spell slots that would otherwise be lost.
- Lv. 1: Go further, or don’t bother.
- Lv. 2: Another Fighting Style (probably Defense, though Two-Weapon Fighting is available for you dual-wielders), and some nice spell options. Absorb Elements (XGTE) and Goodberry come to mind. Or Hunter’s Mark if you’re not Vengeance.
- Lv. 3: Gloom Stalker (XGTE) gives an extra attack on your first turn of combat, which is perfect for an alpha strike turn where you want to pour out Divine Smite damage.
Rogue: A little MAD, seeing as you still need to have STR and CHA at 13 while going for that score in DEX, too. But for a DEX-Paladin, a 3-level dip here can be quite effective, going either for Assassin and its auto-crits to guarantee doubling of Divine Smite damage, or Swashbuckler (SCAG) for its enhanced dual-wielding capability and mobility. There’s points to starting as either Paladin or Rogue here, so you could go either way. If you start as a Paladin you get WIS save proficiency, which is better than DEX since WIS deals with nastier conditions on the whole. On the other hand, starting as a Rogue gets you a net gain of one full skill proficiency and also free Thieves’ Tools proficiency.
- Lv. 3: Either Assassin for the tasty nova potential from the auto-crits doubling Divine Smite, or Swashbuckler for the dual-wielding mobility, CHA bonus to initiative and face-to-face applications of Sneak Attack. If you go the Assassin route, you’ll want to get Stealth proficiency and Expertise, obviously, and also the Alert feat, for sure, since beating enemy initiative consistently is required for Assassinate to work its magic.
Sorcerer: One of the best Paladin MC options, complete with perfectly compatible casting stat. Aside from the cantrips and spells, the big draw is Font of Magic and Metamagic, which can either get you some extra spell slots or enhance your spellcasting economy when you need it most. If you're going DEX-based Paladin, definitely start Lv. 1 as a Sorcerer, since you'll get Constitution save proficiency that way and the loss of heavy armor isn't an issue in that case. For a STR-based build, the Lv. 1 choice might be more difficult.
- Lv. 1: Four cantrips (the most of any caster class at 1st level) and two 1st-level spells. You’ll definitely want at least one ranged cantrip (either Ray of Frost or Fire Bolt). As for 1st-level spells, Shield and Absorb Elements (XGTE) are terrific (but if you’re sword-and-board you WILL need War Caster for those). If you do have to take War Caster, Booming Blade and/or Green-Flame Blade become good cantrip options. As for Origin, Divine Soul (XGTE) is easily the new darling for a dip, with the ability to pick Cleric spells (including cantrips, hello Guidance) and also gain a free known spell with your Affinity. (Free Bless if you go Law!) And also get a 2d4 buff per short rest to an attack or save.
- Lv. 2: Go to Lv. 3 or don't bother.
- Lv. 3: The big prize of two Metamagic options. You’ll want Quickened Spell for sure, since turning a 1 action buffing spell into a bonus action is huge in the right battle. For your second choice, I can see either going for Heightened Spell (a particularly nice one for smite spells with an effect that requires a save) or Twinned Spell (whenever you need to tag two creatures with a single-target spell).
Warlock: Another top Paladin MC option, and like the Sorcerer, CHA-casting for perfect compatibility. You can even use the short-rest recharge spell slots to power your Divine Smite, letting you Smite a lot more often, potentially (even if not for quite as much damage).
NOTE: The“paladin spell slot” part of Divine Smite was confirmed to be a misprint soon after the initial PHB release, and was reflected as such in both the June 2015 errata and later PHB print runs.
- Lv. 1: A first-level Patron feature, a couple of cantrips (ahem, Eldritch Blast) you can go nuts with since it uses CHA just like your own spells, and one short-rest spell slot all make for a terrific one-level dip. And then there’s the annoyingly, instantly ubiquitous Hexblade (XGTE), which lets you make all you attacks and weapon damage key off CHA, reducing your MAD at the cost of the Warlock level. (Some DMs may make you justify that Hexblade choice roleplay-wise against your Oath, however …)
- Lv. 2: Your first pair of invocations. If you took Eldritch Blast, definitely take Agonizing Blast as one of them. Devil’s Sight is another good one. You also get your second Warlock spell slot for more short-rest recharge Smiting.
- Lv. 3: Your Pact Boon. Tome is the most effective, overall, getting you three cantrips from any spell list (even opening up the possibility of CHA-based attacks if you take Shillelagh). Your spell slots also become 2nd-level, making your rechargeable Smites stronger.
- Lv. 7: 4th-level Warlock spell slots, putting your short-rest Smites at maximum power. Still allows room for 4th-level Paladin spells at the end.
Wizard: Most Paladins shouldn’t even think about it.
One interesting exception involves Paladins who plan to break their Oath, but they’d have to go all the way to Lv. 6 in this class (and still invest a 13 in what is usually their dump stat).
- Lv. 6: School of Necromancy for Undead Thralls. The big prize for Oathbreakers, with the beefy extra hit points and damage on all undead you create. Combined with Aura of Hate, your undead army will be especially nasty.
