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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zardnaar" data-source="post: 6704032" data-attributes="member: 6716779">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.) Potential Multiclass options: Bard: Perfectly compatible stats qualifying-wise and spellcasting-wise (CHA 13). You get an extra skill of your choice when entering this, too, along with some extra spellcasting and leader-type stuff.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.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. Very robust level.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, so it may be a bit surprising that it doesn't rank as highly as some other options. But that said, it can be viable. 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. The prize most Paladins will go for is at Lv. 6, with the Channel Divinity 2 times per short rest.Lv. 1: Cantrips and your first Domain feature and pair of Domain spells. Life, in particular, is a really good Domain for a Paladin dipping Cleric levels to take, since none of its features or Channel Divinity options are WIS-dependent, and only one of its Domain spells has an attack roll or DC related to WIS. The Lv. 1 feature of Life powers up all healing spells, and not just Cleric ones, either. Heck, you even get Bless always on tap; how good is that!?Lv. 6: Channel Divinity twice per short rest. The main reason a Paladin will “dip” Cleric levels. You also get another Domain feature, and Life’s, again, is pretty decent. 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: Your Fighter Archetype, and all three choices here have something to offer. Battle Master is the most consistently effective with the healthy short rest-recharge arsenal you gain (4 d8 Superiority Dice, 3 maneuvers). Champion has its points with its doubled crit range, which means a better chance of adding doubled Smite damage. Eldritch Knight is pretty pointless if a 3- or 4-level dip is all you want, but if you’re going further than that, it looks a lot more attractive thanks to the spell slot gain beyond your Paladin levels.Lv. 11: 3 attacks per Attack action. With 9 Paladin levels, you still have 3rd-level spells, Aura of Protection, and the particularly strong Lv. 7 Oath feature. If you went Eldritch Knight, you’ll still have a fair number of spell slots to play with. 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-based Paladin of Vengeance somehow trained in Stealth (via race or background), in particular, this can be quite an effective option. The first two levels contain the goodness of Expertise and Cunning Action (plus a Sneak Attack die or two), and then the big prize of Assassinate at Lv. 3. 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 Thieves’ Tools proficiency as well.Lv. 3: Assassin for Assassinate. This is why you want to be trained (and preferably even Expertised) in Stealth somehow, so you have a better chance to set up those surprise round auto-crits! And you can imagine how lovely those are going to get with a charged-up smite spell, Divine Smite and Extra Attack. Sorcerer: Compatible qualifying and casting stat with CHA, so a very attractive option. 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: Favored Soul (UA: Class Design Variants) is overall the clear winner here, especially for a dip, with the free Cleric domain spells you get at just this level (and 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th if you go that far). And unlike with a Cleric MC, those spells will be Charisma-based! Draconic Bloodline can be good for DEX-Paladins with that free natural armor amounting to 1 AC better than studded leather, and looks more attractive if you’re going to take 6 or more Sorcerer levels. (Don’t take Wild Magic; it has nothing to offer you.)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).Lv. 6: A worthy level for Draconic Bloodline. Elemental Affinity goes very well with Elemental Weapon (extra CHA modifier to damage) and perhaps some of your smite spells. Or spend a sorcery point for resistance to your chosen damage type. For Favored Souls with more than 5 Paladin levels this is obviously a wasted level, since two instances of Extra Attack do not stack.Lv. 9: 5th-level Sorcerer spells.  Still allows room for the Paladin’s Improved Divine Smite. Warlock: Compatible qualifying and casting stat with CHA, making for an especially attractive dipping option. 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 PHB release, and was reflected as such in the June 2015 errata.Lv. 1: A first-level Patron feature (Dark One’s Blessing and Fey Presence are both pretty good), a couple of cantrips (ahem, Eldritch Blast) you can go nuts with since it uses CHA just like your own spells, and one recharging spell slot all make for a terrific one-level dip.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 rechargeable Smites at maximum power. Still allows room for 4th-level Paladin spells at the end.Lv. 9: 5th-level Warlock spells and slots. Still allows room for Improved Divine Smite. Wizard: Requires heavy investment in what is typically the Paladin’s dump stat to enter (INT 13). There is one big draw that might make the extra MAD worthwhile, especially if you plan to break your Oath.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.</blockquote>

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