D&D 5E Milticlassing Dip-schticks

[Balfore]

Our group finds very little benifit for taking any dips (other than...MAYBE...the Rager-Druid for the extra resistance to damage)...

You don't get the benifit of gaining the last few benifits from your base class.

Just curious as to the various thoughts of why people level dip.

Not see why this would be a good thing.

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[Hathorym]

I've mostly seen multiclass dipping to achieve a certain concept of character.
Others do it for mechanical reasons.
The fact is, people play the way they want to.
If you don't like it, you don't have to use it.
That's why they are optional rules.
Just do whatever works best for your table.

 

[Balfore]

I was merely asking why people would want to dip, I've mostly seen it for mechanical reasons.
Deep dips lose benifits from level 15 and up features.
Unless of course, the dips are seen as being its 'feature', which may be pretty neat in itself...
I was just looking for different thoughts on why people do it.

Why would a caster never want to get 9th level magic if the dipped into other classes?

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[The Crimson Binome]

You don't get the benifit of gaining the last few benifits from your base class.

You're almost never in a position to worry about the last few base class abilities, because most games don't get that far anyway. The designers do take that sort of thing into consideration, and try to put something useful in those last few levels, but the real trade-off is what you're missing out in your next level of the base class.

If you're level 5, then taking a level in a different class means you don't get your level 6 feature from your base class. But the level 6 feature for most classes is pretty underwhelming, and the level 1 feature of many classes can be pretty useful. In fact, most of the good abilities are either front-loaded (you gain them within the first five levels of the class) or back-loaded (you gain them within the last few levels of the class).

If you're anywhere between level 5 and level 15 or so, then you can usually make a strong case for multiclassing with your next level. And while a fighter 5/ rogue 6 may not be as impressive as a fighter 11 or rogue 11, a fighter X/ rogue 1 is almost always more impressive than a fighter (X+1).

 

[Balfore]

You're almost never in a position to worry about the last few base class abilities, because most games don't get that far anyway. The designers do take that sort of thing into consideration, and try to put something useful in those last few levels, but the real trade-off is what you're missing out in your next level of the base class.

If you're level 5, then taking a level in a different class means you don't get your level 6 feature from your base class. But the level 6 feature for most classes is pretty underwhelming, and the level 1 feature of many classes can be pretty useful. In fact, most of the good abilities are either front-loaded (you gain them within the first five levels of the class) or back-loaded (you gain them within the last few levels of the class).

If you're anywhere between level 5 and level 15 or so, then you can usually make a strong case for multiclassing with your next level. And while a fighter 5/ rogue 6 may not be as impressive as a fighter 11 or rogue 11, a fighter X/ rogue 1 is almost always more impressive than a fighter (X+1).

So, in that example, a level 1 Rogue and a... level 6 Fighter....
Do you only get the extra d6 for sneak attack? Or am I missing something?

If that's all... is it worth the dip, practically speaking.

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[flametitan]

So, in that example, a level 1 Rogue and a... level 6 Fighter....
Do you only get the extra d6 for sneak attack? Or am I missing something?

If that's all... is it worth the dip, practically speaking.

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You get expertise as well, and thieves' cant if that matters in the games you play.

 

[Lanliss]

Characters concept. I have a pair of characters right now, who are a pirate captain and his first mate. The captain is a Warlock of Davy jones/Swashbuckler, while the first mate is a monk/swashbuckler. Both excellent for the Pirate aesthetic I wanted.

From the mechanical side, it depends on the concept. A bladelock, for example, is fairly weak to start off. However, Swashbuckler is a Charisma based melee fighter, making the captain quite good in close quarters. The Monk is a Dex based fighter, which also combos well with Swashbuckler. Both are going to be getting sneak attack a lot, and be fairly competent in solo fights.

It also depends on the class abilities you are missing out on. I personally don't need the high level Swashbuckler abilities, since they are less "Pirate fighting" focused, which is the only reason I grabbed Swashbuckler over fighter. I am then thinking of taking the captain to level 3 fighter for Eldritch Knight, which will give him the ability to always be armed with a pair of weapons. The Monk will be going to fighter 3 as well, for Champion.

All mechanics that lend themselves to my Character goals

 

[Balfore]

Characters concept. I have a pair of characters right now, who are a pirate captain and his first mate. The captain is a Warlock of Davy jones/Swashbuckler, while the first mate is a monk/swashbuckler. Both excellent for the Pirate aesthetic I wanted.

From the mechanical side, it depends on the concept. A bladelock, for example, is fairly weak to start off. However, Swashbuckler is a Charisma based melee fighter, making the captain quite good in close quarters. The Monk is a Dex based fighter, which also combos well with Swashbuckler. Both are going to be getting sneak attack a lot, and be fairly competent in solo fights.

It also depends on the class abilities you are missing out on. I personally don't need the high level Swashbuckler abilities, since they are less "Pirate fighting" focused, which is the only reason I grabbed Swashbuckler over fighter. I am then thinking of taking the captain to level 3 fighter for Eldritch Knight, which will give him the ability to always be armed with a pair of weapons. The Monk will be going to fighter 3 as well, for Champion.

All mechanics that lend themselves to my Character goals

Seems like pretty cool concepts
So, in the end, no high level magic is the trade off? Which is ultimately something that could outright kill and control the battlefield?

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[Lanliss]

Seems like pretty cool concepts ��
So, in the end, no high level magic is the trade off? Which is ultimately something that could outright kill and control the battlefield?

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Yeah, but in a Pirate ship fight, all of your own people are on the same ship as your enemies. High level magic is as bad for you as it is for your foe. Besides, if I really need magic, I can find a good Storm Sorcerer or a Ship mage.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

So, in that example, a level 1 Rogue and a... level 6 Fighter....
Do you only get the extra d6 for sneak attack? Or am I missing something?

It's not so much that you get a huge bonus out of one level in Rogue, as it is that you don't get a huge bonus out of an extra level in Fighter. Assuming you maxed out your Dexterity at level 4, you're already suffering from diminishing returns on that second ability score increase, and expertise is actually pretty great. And it's not as though you're actually losing out on getting +2 Con or whatever; you're just delaying it by one level, in exchange for +3 to to different skills and an extra +1d6 damage every round.

Going the other way, it's even more apparent. A level 5 Rogue, in choosing to take one level of Fighter, gains +2 to hit with ranged attacks (or +1 AC, or +5 damage with their off-hand attack) in exchange for their second pair of expertise skills, which is worth less than the first pair since you already have expertise in your highest-priority skills. Granted, you'll be missing out on an extra +1d6 sneak attack during half of your future career, but the other half of the time you won't be missing out on any sneak attack. And if you felt like dipping for exactly two levels, then you gain a significant boost in terms of action economy.