D&D 5E swashbuckler or assassin for warlock-rogue multiclass

[Mistwell]

You can do both.

Oh right! Duh!

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Oh right! Duh!

I really like Hexblade with Chain or Tome Pact Boon.

I do still wish they'd just made the Blade Pact turn Eldritch Blast into melee attacks with the range replaced by that of your weapon, worded in a way where every Eldritch Blast Invocation worked for your Eldritch Strike feature. It just would have saved a lot of trouble and making the melee warlock so deeply invocation dependent just to work on any level.

 

[FrogReaver]

I really like Hexblade with Chain or Tome Pact Boon.

I do still wish they'd just made the Blade Pact turn Eldritch Blast into melee attacks with the range replaced by that of your weapon, worded in a way where every Eldritch Blast Invocation worked for your Eldritch Strike feature. It just would have saved a lot of trouble and making the melee warlock so deeply invocation dependent just to work on any level.

IMO the only reason they didn't was cantrip scaling based off class level.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

IMO the only reason they didn't was cantrip scaling based off class level.

Possible, but...you’re still just casting a cantrip as an action, so I don’t see how it could possible be problematic.

 

[FrogReaver]

Possible, but...you’re still just casting a cantrip as an action, so I don’t see how it could possible be problematic.

multiclassing. If it were true 2 levels of warlock allow any class To attack like a fighter. Actually better as 4th attack comes 3 levels earlier.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

multiclassing. If it were true 2 levels of warlock allow any class To attack like a fighter. Actually better as 4th attack comes 3 levels earlier.

Not sure it’s different from EB as is, other than spending a pact boon to make it melee rather than ranged.

 

[FrogReaver]

Not sure it’s different from EB as is, other than spending a pact boon to make it melee rather than ranged.

magic weapons, smites, superiority dice... the list of things that works with weapon attacks is long. EB not so much.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

magic weapons, smites, superiority dice... the list of things that works with weapon attacks is long. EB not so much.

So make it a melee spell attack with a weapon.

 

[Coroc]

So in one of the campaigns I DM one of the players is a drow fiend-chain-warlock/swashbuckler (currently 5/4). It is a cool build and after seeing it I decided to try something similar out as a player in another campaign. My player is a half-elf, currently a 1-1 hexblade-rogue. My cantrips are friends and booming blade, spells are hex and comprehend languages.

I plan on going rogue to level 4 from here, then hexblade-chain to 5, then I am not sure maybe more rogue or fighter. I know many will say pact of blade, not chain. However I am committed to chain pact. Also our campaigns rarely get beyond level 12, so maxing out for a level 20 is not relevant. I am planning to pick up alert at rogue 4 which will give me a nice initiative bonus.

My real question is on the swashbuckler vs assassin for the rogue kit. The assassin advantage on first round is a big boost, as is the crits on surprise. Also the disguise kit would work really well with the RP and the characters role in the party.

On the other hand talking sawshbulcker will give unreal initiative (dex+charisma+5), more ways to get in sneak attack and more mobility to move around and do what I want.

The party I am in is quite standard - other players are a human fighter (2-handed slasher), a human cleric (not sure what she is good for ... dead weight ) and a dwarf wizard (probably becomes an evoker). My player is the face of the party and has a slew of skills.

Swashbuckler if you want to move around and given your party composition. The spike damage of an assassin is nice, but tbh. the 5e rogue assassin is rather good at being a disguise / forgery/impersonator expert imho.