D&D 5E Spell Picks for Paladin 2/Bard 1/Socerer 1

[FrogReaver]

I am making a new character for our ongoing campaign.

A little about my game:
The party currently consists of a Dwarf Wizard, A Human Rogue and a Human Paladin. This is a featless game. We roll stats. We roll for level up hp. Death occurs at 0. Each class starts with bonus hp equal to their starting classes hp maximum. Adventuring Days generally consist of 2-3 encounters at most and often enough just a single encounter.

A little about me:

My level 5 cleric died to a roper last night. He had a nice magical battleaxe and some adamantine armour and a +3 shield.

​

My new character starts at level 4. I have decided to be a Tiefling Paldin 2/Bard 1/Sorcerer 1. I plan to take sorcerer levels for the forseeable future. My stats are 16str, 6dex, 16con, 10int, 6wis, 18cha. I have 48 hp. I am trained in History, Investigation, Persuasion and Religion. I have a custom background, anthropologist, and I get to learn new languages and cultures quickly. Exact benefit is DM discretion.

Why Paladin 2/Bard 1/Sorcerer X?
Overall I wanted a front line character with lots of out of combat utility.

Paladin 2 because I wanted a front line character that could trade spell slots for greater melee ability. I also wanted to have the proficiencies to use my clerics old equipment.

Bard 1 because it allows me to keep full caster spell progression and 4 additional spells known while giving me bardic inspiration.

Sorcerer X because it gives access to the melee cantrips, full caster progression, sorcery points for quicken spell which allows me to get an extra attack when used and since my combat spell slots will be used primarily on smiting and or defensive abilities that leaves the sorcerer spells known to further enhance out of combat abilities.

What cantrips and spells should I choose?
I get access to 2 bard cantrips and 4 known bard 1st level spells
I get access to 5 paladin spells prepared
I get access to 4 sorcerer cantrips and 2 sorcerer spells known (3 if you count the divine soul sorcerer bonus spell)

 

[FrogReaver]

TLDR: Help me pick cantrips and spells known/prepared for a Paladin 2/Bard 1/Sorcerer 1.

 

[RogueJK]

Sounds like you plan to focus on melee combat?

Spell selection will differ a tiny bit based on which type of Tiefling you are, since the different variants get different racial spells. For these purposes, I'm going to assume you're a standard Tiefling with racial spells of Thaumaturgy, Hellish Rebuke, and Darkness. Let us know if that's not the case, as that may change things.

And unfortunately, you're going to be burning through your limited 1st level spell slots like crazy, between your large number of spell options plus your Paladin Smite ability. You'll only have four 1st Level spell slots and eleven 1st Level spells known. At this level, you'll also have two 2nd Level spells slots, which are only useful for upcasting 1st Level spells or spending on Smites, since you won't know any 2nd Level spells yet.

Good choice on Divine Soul, especially since your party is missing a dedicated Cleric. I'll again assume you're going Good, which means you pick up Cure Wounds for free. This will be handy for times when your party is really banged up and needs a bit of extra out of combat healing (and it can be upcast using a 2nd level slot), although your first choice for healing will be your Lay On Hands since it doesn't use any of your extremely limited spell slots.


Cantrips
Sorcerer: Either Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade (whichever one fits your playstyle better), Toll the Dead for ranged attacks or attacks on enemies with high AC or behind cover, Lightning Lure for a bit of battlefield control and pulling enemies off your squishier party members and over to you, and Word of Radiance for AOE damage when surrounded but without having to worry about hitting nearby allies.

Bard: Mage Hand and Minor Illusion, because they're the two most useful utility cantrips out there.


1st Level Spells
Sorcerer: Shield for extra tankiness in a pinch, and Thunderwave for some frontline AOE damage (and which can be upcast for a bit of extra damage). You'll want to eventually pick up Absorb Elements too, which like Shield is great option for a melee spellcaster, but that can wait another level or two since you don't tend to run into many sources of elemental damage at 4th level.

Bard: Faerie Fire for AOE Advantage (your Rogue will especially love you as that guarantees him Sneak Attack) and anti-invisibility, Healing Word for emergency ranged healing, and then two utilitarian spells like Disguise Self, Feather Fall, Detect Magic, Identify, or Comprehend Languages. The latter three are not only handy as Rituals that won't use your limited spell slots but also fits nicely with your background, but those might already be covered by your Wizard. I'd definitely pick up Detect Magic if your Wizard doesn't know that one.

Paladin: This is tough, because you have several great 1st Level Paladin spell options, but they will all compete for your Concentration (along with Faerie Fire), so you'll only be able to use one of them at a time. You'll want to coordinate with your other Paladin to make sure you're not overlapping. Bless is a fantastic spell that should be running most of the time, but I'd try to convince your other Paladin to be the "party Blesser". Your concentration will be spent on Faerie Fire most of the time, but I'd also select Shield of Faith and Divine Favor for times when you need either extra AC or extra damage more than the party needs AOE Advantage from Faerie Fire, or for when the enemy makes their Faerie Fire save, thus freeing up your concentration.

The last two Paladin spells known don't really matter. Realistically, you've already got most of the good ones covered between your Paladin spells, your other classes' spells, and your party's other Paladin. You're not going to be casting Paladin spells all that often since your very limited spell slots are going to be used most often for your Sorcerer/Bard spells (Shield, Thunderwave, and Faerie Fire in combat), Smites, and healing most of the time. But it's good to have options. You might take something like Command, which doesn't use concentration and can be useful in a pinch, although you won't be using it much at all. I'd suggest using the last Paladin known spell for a really situational spell like Purify Food/Drink or Detect Poison/Disease, which rarely come up but are handy when they do.

None of the 1st level Smite spells are worth taking over the standard Smite ability IMO, especially since they also use your Concentration.

 

[Mort]

None of the 1st level Smite spells are worth taking over the standard Smite ability IMO, especially since they also use your Concentration.

Have to disagree.

Wrathfull smite is a great pick for this character.

1. You can stack it, so that extra d6 can be in addition to another smite. Since the character gets more spells than a typical paladin and encounters per day are on the low side this is highly viable.

More importantly though:

2. Wrathful smite imposes the frightened condition - this is pure gold if you're the party tank! Imposing disadvantage to attack rolls is pretty big.

 

[RogueJK]

I still don't think imposing Frightened on one enemy is worth losing concentration on Faerie Fire/Shield of Faith/Divine Favor/Bless, in most situations.

I agree that stacking Smite on top of a Smite spell is a bit more viable for a campaign like this with low numbers of encounters per day, but spending two of his limited spell slots at once is still not ideal, IMO.

 

[Mort]

I still don't think imposing Frightened on one enemy is worth losing concentration on Faerie Fire/Shield of Faith/Divine Favor/Bless, in most situations.

Certainly agree that those are good spells, particularly faerie fire which has good utility for the rogue (sneak attack).

Still, from the number of encounters per day mentioned, I suspect a disproportionate percentage will be of the "big bad" variety. Those tend to be less numerous (1 or 2 big creatures) but hit more often and hit harder. Keeping Wrathful smite as an option seems like a good idea. Especially since paladin spells prepared is separate from bard and sorcerer so doesn't interfere.

I agree that stacking Smite on top of a Smite spell is a bit more viable for a campaign like this with low numbers of encounters per day, but spending two of his limited spell slots at once is still not ideal, IMO.

The type of campaign described encourages (for better or worse) nova striking, this just gives more options to that end.

 

[FrogReaver]

Certainly agree that those are good spells, particularly faerie fire which has good utility for the rogue (sneak attack).

Still, from the number of encounters per day mentioned, I suspect a disproportionate percentage will be of the "big bad" variety. Those tend to be less numerous (1 or 2 big creatures) but hit more often and hit harder. Keeping Wrathful smite as an option seems like a good idea. Especially since paladin spells prepared is separate from bard and sorcerer so doesn't interfere.



The type of campaign described encourages (for better or worse) nova striking, this just gives more options to that end.

Yea, we have a lot of encounters against a single nasty creature.

Sometimes we have battles against many foes. Even then though there's typically 1-2 nasty enemies in the mix of fodder. These kinds of battles are much more rare.

I like the option to use spells to cast actual smite spells as opposed to just divine smite.

 

[Ashrym]

double post

 

[Ashrym]

First thoughts...


Sorc: shield, absorb elements; greenflame blade, lightning lure, mold earth, thunder clap

Sorcerer spells give emergency defense and the main attack cantrip.

Bard: speak with animals, unseen servant, sleep, healing word; minor illusion, mage hand

Bard spells give utility, emergency heal option, and a solid low level CC. It's tempting to fill all of those spells known with rituals dropping sleep and healing word. It depends on what rituals the wizard has available.

Pally: bless, command, purify food and drink, protection from evil, heroism

Paladin spells are situational. Bless is probably covered by the other paladin but you could cast it so the other character could use a different concentration spell. Heroism temp hp tends to be more cost effective than cure wounds or healing word.

If you go for useful situational spells and rituals that tends to leave slots for smiting.

 

[FrogReaver]

So I think I have my prepared and known spells chosen:

Bard
Comprehend Languages
detect magic
unseen servant
charm person

Divine Soul Sorcerer
cure wounds
shield
absorb elements

Paladin
Bless
Shield of Faith
Heroism
Thunderous Smite
Wrathful Smite

Cantrips
Sorcerer
firebolt
greenflame blade
gust
mold earth

Bard
light
minor illusion

Thoughts?