D&D 5E Multiclassing just with the core PHB any combo more powerful at low to medium levels?

[Coroc]

Ok, I hate multiclassing I admit it. But one day one of my players might say I want to try this, and I eventually will allow it for a campaign.

Now I especially hate class dips, I could get along a bit better with 2nd ed mc-ing than 3e splat book builds.

But that shall not be the topic of that thread.

I ask you, given the PHB is the only resource, is there any combo using just phb raw which shines or outshines other classes / one of its base classes

at low or medium levels, say maximum total levels 6 -10. The lowest convincing build gets 100 points and wins this thread

Any reasoning is fair game, also rp reasons do not just focus on dpr or nova capability but if this is the shtick of your build then it is ok also.

 

[FrogReaver]

Ok, I hate multiclassing I admit it. But one day one of my players might say I want to try this, and I eventually will allow it for a campaign.

Now I especially hate class dips, I could get along a bit better with 2nd ed mc-ing than 3e splat book builds.

But that shall not be the topic of that thread.

I ask you, given the PHB is the only resource, is there any combo using just phb raw which shines or outshines other classes / one of its base classes

at low or medium levels, say maximum total levels 6 -10. The lowest convincing build gets 100 points and wins this thread

Any reasoning is fair game, also rp reasons do not just focus on dpr or nova capability but if this is the shtick of your build then it is ok also.

I would suggest barbarian rogue. Almost any combination makes a compelling character that is good at both offense or defense.

 

[nswanson27]

I would suggest barbarian rogue. Almost any combination makes a compelling character that is good at both offense or defense.

Shadow monk 6 assassin rogue 3. Extra attack offsets missing sneak attack, plus gives one more opportunity to land sneak attack if first attack missing. Plus, teleport. Very thematically coherent.

 

[chunkosauruswrex]

Barbarian 1/Moon Druid X rage while wildshaping to really make that bear form hurt.

Also of note is Paladin 2/any charisma full caster X Smite using the abundant slots of a full caster

 

[Blue]

My biggest experience with 5e multiclassing is that you have to be careful not to accidentally make a character who falls behind a single class character, mostly because of ASIs being linked to class level plus being slower to get to the class power bumps at 5th and 11th.

That said, the most cherry-pickable options if you want to watch out for them:

Warlock 2-3 - Eldritch Blast goes by character level, so if you have a good charisma you can become a good ranged combatant that will scale. Then just take levels of whatever you want to go up in.

Cleric 1 - the domains give armor and weapon proficiencies as class features, so they are ways to get heavy armor and martial weapons even if it's not your first class level. Oh, I also see Life cleric + a class that has some healing to get better healing .... and I'm perfectly happy with that.

Fighter 1-3 - fighter just is a good package, and there are enough goodies at each level to make it worth grabbing a bit if it fits with your main class. But its not really broken, just quite nice.

Mearls has told us that UAs are before the pass that worries about multiclass balance and other polish, so I'd be leary of allowing UA subclasses and multiclassing.
The UA Revised Ranger is a good example of this, the 1st level abilities are very nice if you could cherry-pick them for another class.

 

[Yunru]

Monk 1/Moon Druid X, although it drops off towards later levels.

One level of Rogue is great for any grappler build. Or rather, the expertise is.

 

[snickersnax]

Multiclass #1: Ranger (hunter) 5 / Rogue (assassin) 5 : most of the ranger features post level 5 are also rogue features. If you start taking rogue levels you just get them faster. I know there are a few subtle differences in some of the comparisons, but 5 levels of rogue is just better than levels 6-10 of ranger

Land's Stride at Ra 8 vs Cunning Action (dash) at Ra5/Ro2 (total level 7)
Hide in Plain Sight at Ra 10 and Vanish at level 14 Ra vs Cunning Action(hide) at total level 7
Uncanny Dodge at Ra 15 vs Uncanny Dodge at Ra5/Ro5 (total level 10)

Plus you get sneak attack, expertise (even better tracking!), assassinate (for fantastic archery surprise), poison kit (synchronizes well with nature checks for harvesting poison).
And I know its outside your level 10 cap, but evasion at level 12 instead of 15 is gravy.


Multiclass #2: Fighter (EK) 5 / Sorcerer 5: The benefits of this build far outstrip a straight EK IMO. Besides the obvious benefits of being able to cast 3rd level spells by level 10 (instead of only 2nd level spells)
at level 8 you can quickcast spells which is better than the level 18 EK feature, because you can cast a spell as a bonus action and then take 2 weapon attacks. At level 10 you can get 3 attacks per round (casting haste as a bonus action).

This build works well for an (elven/half-elven)*** wild magic sorcerer, because you have 5 levels of fighter hitpoints to help survive freaky ground zero fireballs.

The extra spell slots you have from multi-classing can be converted to sorcery points if you need more quickcasts.

The build is not MAD. Intelligence can be a dump stat and you can take defensive, non-DC spells for your known wizard spells. Even charisma could be low, if you focus on all your spells just enhancing your fighting ability (find familiar, mage armor, shield, alarm, blur, invisibility, misty step, haste, blink, fly)

***I'm with you on limiting multiclassing options: I limit origin classes to appropriate racial type. No multiclassing into barbarian. No multiclassing out of "vow" classes (paladin, monk, cleric) without some serious penalties. Quitting the Thieves/ Assassins guide isn't easy...but I use the two multiclass builds above for the standard for Ranger and fey-ancestry EK .

 

[FrogReaver]

Most of the best early multiclasses will involve rogue, barbarian, warlock or fighter IMO.

Druids can multiclass for the flavor of wildShape, not super powerful but interesting.
Clerics heavy armor and full caster levels is really the best that can be said.
Monk don't add much to any class but some of the best multiclassing classes can still make good use of him.
Paladin, great base to multiclass from. Not so great to multiclass into unless you just really want your caster to feel like they have a good melee option (maybe good with some of the melee cantrips but i'd have to read them again to know for sure).
Wizard, a 3-5 level multiclass can add great utility to any primarily non-magical class. Most of the best utility spells can be obtained in those level ranges with plenty of casts.
Sorceror, basically the same as a wizard but with fewer spells known.
Bards for bardic inspiration and expertise is a solid choice and similar reasoning to wizard or sorcerer

 

[FrogReaver]

I personally like a level 5 sorcerer level 2 fighter a lot.

You can fireball action surge fireball twice per day (assuming a short rest) and still have room for some level 1 and level 2 spells.

A level 5 warlock and level 2 fighter works about the same.

A level 6 Wizard and level 2 fighter works about the same.

A level 7 cleric and level 2 fighter works very well too.

 

[Bardbarian]

MC characters are neither stronger or weaker than single class in this edition. The main difference you might see is the "sweet spots" move around depending on the build. While a single class character tends to gain strength in noticable bounds at levels 5/11/17, a multiclass character might seem stronger at odd levels like 4/7/14 (randome examples based on some of my characters) This is going to happen with almost any class combination unless its poorly built where the peaks might be even fewer and more spread out. What MC gives in this edition is a way to add tricks to your bag with the expense of a later opportunity cost. Dips are usually not a proble with the strongest usually being fighter 2 or warlock 2 in many builds but the delay of spell levels or attack progression really does mitigate this in most cases. The end result having played many multi and single class characters is that I find the power levels to be comparable with most of the strongest characters I have played with being single class, while the more fersatile characters tend to be multiclass. It ends up being a fairly balanced choice based upon personal play style rather than any particular power concerns. Most of the builds people call out as breaking the balance only do so in theory and when solo. When a group is working together the strength of each character tends to lend itself to the whole and diffuse throughout the group.