I'm in an Icewind Dale campaign and our party currently consists of 2 Rangers, 2 Rogues, and me, a Sorcerer. It's probably a bad idea but I really feel like someone has to fill some of the tank role, so I was going to multiclass into the Hexblade Warlock for level 5.
But, looking at Sorcerer's level 5 ability, Magical Guidance, it's making me second guess myself. Should I multiclass next level, or should I wait until level 6?
Sorlocks are excellent, but neither a sorcerer nor a sorlock makes a good tank. If you're going to multiclass, do it to improve your build, not to try and patch the party's mistakes.
Sorlocks are excellent, but neither a sorcerer nor a sorlock makes a good tank. If you're going to multiclass, do it to improve your build, not to try and patch the party's mistakes.
I was planning on multiclassing to Warlock at level 6 regardless of our party composition, but I'm just not sure if I should give up 3rd level spells and Magical Guidance for that slight power boost now.
I can't recommend getting to 5th-level Sorcerer enough.
The Magical Guidance optional class feature is fantastic; it has made the difference between one of my characters being the ruthless but intelligent character he's supposed to be vs. the drooling idiot his rolls would cause him to be.
And 3rd-level spells are where full casters get really interesting, and depending on your picks you should be able to take something more valuable than a low hp tank would be. That could come in the form of more raw damage, or from control spells like fear or hypnotic pattern, as while having enemies attack you instead of allies is good, just straight up taking them out of the fight either by killing them or controlling them is always better. Even if a control spell only affects half of the targets, that's still several enemies not making attacks (or effective attacks) for at least one turn, usually more.
If you're using the vanilla Draconic Bloodline though then grabbing Warlock at 6th-level is a perfectly fine choice; Elemental Affinity at 6th on Draconic Bloodline isn't that great, and in practice is clunky as hell (to get resistance to a damage type an enemy is throwing at you, you have to cast a spell that they're probably going to be resistant to in return), you'll want it later when you put the last couple of levels in Sorcerer for the spell slots and 4th-level spells (at Sorcerer 7) but warlock will give you loads to play with earlier on.
As quindraco says neither class is good for tanking; there are some tricks you can do if you're determined, like armor of agathys from the warlock for the extra HP and return damage (though cold damage in a Frostmaiden campaign isn't likely to be that useful), throwing up shield to avoid taking hits once they're headed your way and the like, but that's burning spell slots just to do what a Barbarian does by being angry, so it would drain your resources quickly. I've played a Sorcerer multiclassed with Barbarian before, to give them the option of going "feral" and "tanking" in short bursts, but that's far from optimal as well (shuts off most of your spellcasting), if your party is having trouble with enemy attacks, then your best option is to eliminate those attacks, rather than trying to take them.
Instead of trying to make your awesome sorcerer into a bad tank, consider filling a roll you'll excel at. Take really strong crowd control spells. Spells like hypnotic pattern, slow, and fear will be a much bigger benefit to your party than trying to fill a roll that you're going to fill very poorly no matter what you do.
Level 5 is a huge powerspike for any character. It's one of the worst levels to start multiclassing.
As for your party composition ... a tank/frontliner would definitely help but of the classes you listed ... it's the Rangers who should think about it. They can wear medium armor and shields by default already. They don't need to give up anything for it. Plus they have a bigger hit dice than you as Sorcerer (even with the +1HP/level of Draconic) or Warlock.
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I'm in an Icewind Dale campaign and our party currently consists of 2 Rangers, 2 Rogues, and me, a Sorcerer. It's probably a bad idea but I really feel like someone has to fill some of the tank role, so I was going to multiclass into the Hexblade Warlock for level 5.
But, looking at Sorcerer's level 5 ability, Magical Guidance, it's making me second guess myself. Should I multiclass next level, or should I wait until level 6?
Sorlocks are excellent, but neither a sorcerer nor a sorlock makes a good tank. If you're going to multiclass, do it to improve your build, not to try and patch the party's mistakes.
I was planning on multiclassing to Warlock at level 6 regardless of our party composition, but I'm just not sure if I should give up 3rd level spells and Magical Guidance for that slight power boost now.
I can't recommend getting to 5th-level Sorcerer enough.
The Magical Guidance optional class feature is fantastic; it has made the difference between one of my characters being the ruthless but intelligent character he's supposed to be vs. the drooling idiot his rolls would cause him to be.
And 3rd-level spells are where full casters get really interesting, and depending on your picks you should be able to take something more valuable than a low hp tank would be. That could come in the form of more raw damage, or from control spells like fear or hypnotic pattern, as while having enemies attack you instead of allies is good, just straight up taking them out of the fight either by killing them or controlling them is always better. Even if a control spell only affects half of the targets, that's still several enemies not making attacks (or effective attacks) for at least one turn, usually more.
If you're using the vanilla Draconic Bloodline though then grabbing Warlock at 6th-level is a perfectly fine choice; Elemental Affinity at 6th on Draconic Bloodline isn't that great, and in practice is clunky as hell (to get resistance to a damage type an enemy is throwing at you, you have to cast a spell that they're probably going to be resistant to in return), you'll want it later when you put the last couple of levels in Sorcerer for the spell slots and 4th-level spells (at Sorcerer 7) but warlock will give you loads to play with earlier on.
As quindraco says neither class is good for tanking; there are some tricks you can do if you're determined, like armor of agathys from the warlock for the extra HP and return damage (though cold damage in a Frostmaiden campaign isn't likely to be that useful), throwing up shield to avoid taking hits once they're headed your way and the like, but that's burning spell slots just to do what a Barbarian does by being angry, so it would drain your resources quickly. I've played a Sorcerer multiclassed with Barbarian before, to give them the option of going "feral" and "tanking" in short bursts, but that's far from optimal as well (shuts off most of your spellcasting), if your party is having trouble with enemy attacks, then your best option is to eliminate those attacks, rather than trying to take them.
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Instead of trying to make your awesome sorcerer into a bad tank, consider filling a roll you'll excel at. Take really strong crowd control spells. Spells like hypnotic pattern, slow, and fear will be a much bigger benefit to your party than trying to fill a roll that you're going to fill very poorly no matter what you do.
Level 5 is a huge powerspike for any character. It's one of the worst levels to start multiclassing.
As for your party composition ... a tank/frontliner would definitely help but of the classes you listed ... it's the Rangers who should think about it. They can wear medium armor and shields by default already. They don't need to give up anything for it. Plus they have a bigger hit dice than you as Sorcerer (even with the +1HP/level of Draconic) or Warlock.
I've never encountered a forum where I got this many "talking to a wall" impressions as this one...