I dont know the nature of your campaign but personally i would seriously consider the likeness of getting to lvl 20 and make a decision based on that.
If its not likely you might not want to put lvls in places based on that goal. Also you should seriously look over what you get at higher lvls with both classes and think about what benefits are better, in respects to RP and FE (Functional Effectiveness).
I am starting my own campaign as the DM now and I think warlocks get jipped on spell slots so a cool magic item for your warlock would probably be appreciated. What I would suggest is (if they went pact of the blade) give them a weapon that restores a spell slot when it kills things....
My DM unexpectedly gave my Hexblade's pact weapon this ability (per short rest.) Honestly, it maybe only happens once per battle, so reset on a long rest would work too.
Is level 20 really such a fairy tale for everyone? Does no one play high level campaigns???? I would ask why folks keep grinding out stacks of new lower level characters...not so different than planning one or two capstone builds.
5E mechanics essentially make PC's de facto gods by the time they reach level 15, so I think people get bored.
It's actually easiest to crush the godhood out of characters at level 15 and above. But many games and many players start a bit OP to begin with. People cringe at point buy and stat array because they dont' feel it's strong enough. Not understanding that it's more than enough to tackle lower levels and can make the higher levels more interesting without the DM actually trying to ruin the party.
But half the problem with a lot of builds is they are never actually used or tested at high level. They are theory crafted by low level experiences where it is easy to be a bit over powered and where low level synergies can actually amplify that over powered nature. But if you really play many of the builds at high level you start to find them having trouble to keep up at worst and pretty much all powers from at least one of the classes become novelty abilities at best for most. Particularly at that 15+ range. There are a few that hold up but they aren't usually the ones that most people think would do that job.
The builds also tend to be built in kind of a vacuum with no consideration of party members or party synergies in mind that can be really beneficial.
That all being said. Having a good story reason to do it is probably the best reason to multiclass as any class. But particularly something like the Warlock which is run through with many kinds of RP hooks to begin with. And if your campaigns that you get to play in because people mistaking the commitment of a long running game or always wanting to try something new syndrome or whatever else means that your never playing above about level 10. Then just keep that in mind with whatever that your going to play. If it goes beyond that there is always time to re-evaluate and add onto what your doing and it makes it easier to take into account changes because of game play that you might not have expected that plenty of those level20 detail planners actually have trouble adjusting to.
Personally, I like to MC warlock. My last character was a sorcerer with a warlock (hexblade) dip; I thought the rechargeable 1st level spell slots would be more useful than they were. Well, that and I really wanted a chain shirt for my concept. The character was fun, but I probably should have stayed pure sorc for what I was doing.
My current character is a celestial bardlock. He was originally going to be a sorlock also, but backwards...a 1-2 level sorc dip. I changed to bard because one of our players decided he wanted to bless. So, my thought of standing in the back holding bless (divine sorc) in conc while I blast went away. the number of spell slots a lock gets...well that's a hard sell for me. So, I went bard to get a couple of first level spell slots, and faerie fire instead of bless. I think the character is probably stronger than I was originally planning and is a better fit for my backstory of being a scouty type who made a pact. I'm not sure how interested I am in a "pure" warlock...because of that spell slot limitation.
As a dip though, warlock feels almost cheating as a dip. For my old sorlock, I felt like I was a fully functional warlock spamming EB, while being able to use my spellslots for buffs and heals. 2 levels and you get to add most of an entire class's "schtick" to another charisma class. One level of hexblade makes paladins SAD (read happy) plus adds some nice utility magic, not to mention a rechargable smite.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
As a dip though, warlock feels almost cheating as a dip. For my old sorlock, I felt like I was a fully functional warlock spamming EB, while being able to use my spellslots for buffs and heals. 2 levels and you get to add most of an entire class's "schtick" to another charisma class. One level of hexblade makes paladins SAD (read happy) plus adds some nice utility magic, not to mention a rechargable smite.
I agree. I believe that all of the various Eldritch Blast enhancements should have a prerequisite of 5 levels of Warlock.
As a dip though, warlock feels almost cheating as a dip. For my old sorlock, I felt like I was a fully functional warlock spamming EB, while being able to use my spellslots for buffs and heals. 2 levels and you get to add most of an entire class's "schtick" to another charisma class. One level of hexblade makes paladins SAD (read happy) plus adds some nice utility magic, not to mention a rechargable smite.
I agree. I believe that all of the various Eldritch Blast enhancements should have a prerequisite of 5 levels of Warlock.
Unfortunately, this would break the warlock. They are essentially, an arcane archer. Without the EB enhancements, they would be pretty ****** until level 5. A better potential "fix" would be to make EB scale on warlock level rather than character level. Given EB is a warlock specific spell, I don't view this as problematic.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
As a dip though, warlock feels almost cheating as a dip. For my old sorlock, I felt like I was a fully functional warlock spamming EB, while being able to use my spellslots for buffs and heals. 2 levels and you get to add most of an entire class's "schtick" to another charisma class. One level of hexblade makes paladins SAD (read happy) plus adds some nice utility magic, not to mention a rechargable smite.
I agree. I believe that all of the various Eldritch Blast enhancements should have a prerequisite of 5 levels of Warlock.
Unfortunately, this would break the warlock. They are essentially, an arcane archer. Without the EB enhancements, they would be pretty ****** until level 5. A better potential "fix" would be to make EB scale on warlock level rather than character level. Given EB is a warlock specific spell, I don't view this as problematic.
Considering you can't even get all of them with just a 2 level dip. Your going to have to pick and choose and your going to lose out some way. Considering there are like 4 or 5 of them and not all of them stack so they can't be used at the same time anyway and most of them will only apply to one of it's beams in a turn (the only exception is the distance one). EB is way over-rated. It's not to say it can't be useful but people get way to caught up in it and think it's some kind of ultimate tool and it's not.
You don't really need all of them. You are mistaken about hose the beams work; it's not like scorching ray. Crawford has clarified that the invocations stack on each beam. Agonizing blast adds your char mod to /each/ beam's damage. Repelling blast pushes with /each/ beam, and if you hit the same target you get to apply the push each time a beam hits.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Then he's reversed his own decisions at some point. I don't have the link to it anymore but when the question came up for things like Scorching Ray for Evoker wizards. He expressly said that it only applies to one of the beams. Despite functionally working basically the same way. Same with the function of how Repelling blast works.
Or maybe he's just biased and prefers Warlocks. Who's to really say.
I believe Scorching ray was specifically errata'd. Repelling blast is also on each beam. Invocations would suck pretty badly if they did /not/ work that way. EB is basically a bowshot. A martial character gets their dex mod on every bow shot. Without the effect stacking, a warlock doing "their thing" and spamming EB would be a straight downgrade to any martial with a bow.
Also, EB is a cantrip, while Scorching Ray is a slot spell. They behave differently. You can get extra beams with a higher level slot, while EB /only/ provides as many beams as the character's level provides.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
I was just having this conversation today. There are some classes like Barbarian where I feel like you should not multiclass because the +4 to Str and Con is just too good to pass up. I love the Warlock class but the level 20 ability does not seem like a must have since you get 2 spell slots and you can take a short rest to get them back. I think you should take at least 8 levels of Warlock and then pick a class that will either increase the number of spell slots or boost other weaknesses. Sorcerer is a nice one because you get the origin features and you can pact of blade/thirsting blade to get two melee attacks. Pally is also good for all the Cha bonuses you can get.
Here is a link to a test character I made. I am using a homebrew feat to make a shield my weapon which I admit is probably a little broken but you can get the idea. Link: https://ddb.ac/characters/15892231/7sHrGF
I've recently checked with my DM about multiclassing my warlock with Circle of Dreams Druid. Without going too deep into detail, there's rp flavor reasons for a 3 level dip to connect with the Feywild in a different way, which is actually in some kind of service to my patron, and mechanically, it gives the party a healer, which it currently lacks.
Ultimately, should we go that far, I expect a W17/D3 build. I didn't even think about Multiclassing until recently, but it fits the character, the patron and the party needs.
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May the gentle moonlinght guide you to greater wisdom
Here is a link to a test character I made. I am using a homebrew feat to make a shield my weapon which I admit is probably a little broken but you can get the idea. Link: https://ddb.ac/characters/15892231/7sHrGF
I always welcome any feedback/suggestions
First off, cool character sheet that also shows well on mobile. Secondly, cool concept overall. You've got some buff stats, healing and enough other board control and out of combat spells to make the character more than a Murderhobo. A couple of quick questions:
Shouldn't you have more 3rd and 4th level Warlock spells as a 12th level Warlock or am I missing something?
My only other concern is RP concept: what drives this character? I have no issue with the build, I'm trying to figure out the methods and motivations by which they got there. I'm not knocking it at all, just trying to understand. Thanks!
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May the gentle moonlinght guide you to greater wisdom
On the spells, a Warlock casts all the spells they know at the highest level they know so in that bulid they are all being cast as 5th level spells. The 1-3 levels that you see on that sheet are really due to to levels in Pally. The multiclassing rules just lets me use those slots to also cast my warlock spells. It is one of the big reasons people multiclass with a Warlock.
As for the character, you can see the backstory on my actual character sheet with the following link. The first link I shared was just a character I made to test builds so it is not the one I actually plan on using. Link: https://ddb.ac/characters/15905606/PvBryT. I am a huge Captain America fan and wanted to play a Warlock so I tried to write a backstory with Cap flavor, though I want a lot of magic and Warlock flavor to it. That is why I am using the homebrew feat to use a shield as my weapon. My character already wants to protect so protecting nature as well as people is not a huge stretch. The Raven Queen works to maintain the balance between life and death so I feel like those will mesh well together.
On the spells, a Warlock casts all the spells they know at the highest level they know so in that bulid they are all being cast as 5th level spells. The 1-3 levels that you see on that sheet are really due to to levels in Pally. The multiclassing rules just lets me use those slots to also cast my warlock spells. It is one of the big reasons people multiclass with a Warlock.
One slight amendment: the multiclassing Warlock can cast any of his or her spells at highest level, provided that they are using the Warlock spell slot and not the other caster. Before 11th level, that's still only two spells until you start using the other slots.
Overall, this is an excellent build and I enjoy the backstory. It's got a lot of flavor and potency. Kudos
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May the gentle moonlinght guide you to greater wisdom
On the spells, a Warlock casts all the spells they know at the highest level they know so in that bulid they are all being cast as 5th level spells. The 1-3 levels that you see on that sheet are really due to to levels in Pally. The multiclassing rules just lets me use those slots to also cast my warlock spells. It is one of the big reasons people multiclass with a Warlock.
One slight amendment: the multiclassing Warlock can cast any of his or her spells at highest level, provided that they are using the Warlock spell slot and not the other caster. Before 11th level, that's still only two spells until you start using the other slots.
Overall, this is an excellent build and I enjoy the backstory. It's got a lot of flavor and potency. Kudos
Glad you like it. I think it is an interesting idea for a multi-class build.
Few reasons why Warlock is so multi-class friendly:
Being a charisma based class, and a very versatile one at that, lets it mix very well with many others classes over a broad base of party rolls.
(I'll preface this part by saying, the following are a bunch of basic rules class generalizations. I recognize there are many exceptions.) If you're strength based, you're pretty much a fighter/paladin/barbarian. While those classes all have very different flavors to them, they all handle the same general "melee combatant" roll in the party. If you're Wisdom based, Cleric/Druid for the most part. Again, very different flavor but both handle "divine caster" type things. Int, you're pretty much...Wizard.
When you hit Charisma though, there are a whole bunch of different roles that open up to you all tied to the same stat. If you want to be a support/face character with access to healing, you can play a Bard. If you want to be a melee fighter (with access to healing) you can play a Paladin. If you want to be a pure caster you can play a Sorcerer. And Warlock has class features that fit right in and greatly enhance (or shore up weaknesses) of all of these depending on the build choices you make.
Many of the best aspects of the class are fairly front loaded
Warlock gets a TON of useful things very quickly. With a 3 level dip your paladin/bard can have a "permanent" (it can't ever be taken away from you) magic weapon of any type you choose (including bows) that you're automatically proficient with, uses your Cha for Att & Dmg, has an additional +1 to Att & Dmg, and counts as a spellcasting focus. Heck...want to be a Cha based Fighter and just not care about Str? You can do that with a 3 level dip in Warlock! Or your Sorcerer can get access to healing spells, 5 new cantrips, an enhanced Ritual Magic feat. Or your Bard can get...etc... These are just a couple of the *many* different options 3 levels of Warlock brings to the mix, and in all of them you're also getting 2 extra level 2 spell slots per short rest that can be used for whatever flavor your character likes (Smites? Heals? Defense? Damage?) and the option for an Eldritch Blast cantrip that even gets your Cha added to damage per bolt if you want a solid ranged damage option.
Because it's so front loaded, past 3rd level invocations are really the main thing that extra levels in the class gets that set it apart from other classes.
With a 3 level dip in warlock, you're still able to snag 9th level spells by level 20 with primary caster classes. Obviously it's at a slower progression, but a lot of players seem more keen on planning out a level 20 character then they are on actually thinking about the process of playing it up to that point. And if you're *not* expecting/planning the character to get to 20, multi-classing becomes even more appealing. The two other things Warlock levels bring then are Patron Features and Invocations. Some of the Patron Features are nifty, some are honestly just extra flavor mostly, almost none of them are things you typically hear people leveling a Warlock to unlock. When was the last time you heard a player say "Gosh I want to build a Hexblade because I'm SUPER excited about making that specter I get at 6th level!"? Not saying (well, kinda saying...) it's never been said, but that's not what draws people to Hexblade... And that leaves Invocations. Now don't get me wrong, Invocations are strong. No denying that at all. But remember, you've already got two of them with a 3 level dip and many characters can get the "really important" stuff for their build in those two choices. Heck, a lot of characters can even get a whole ton of benefit out of even 1 or 2 levels of Warlock. There are certainly reasons to keep leveling warlock, but there are a whole lot of other appealing options out there too...
It's actually easiest to crush the godhood out of characters at level 15 and above. But many games and many players start a bit OP to begin with. People cringe at point buy and stat array because they dont' feel it's strong enough. Not understanding that it's more than enough to tackle lower levels and can make the higher levels more interesting without the DM actually trying to ruin the party.
What gets me about Standard Array/Point Buy isn't that they're underpowered for low-level content (though they are). What gets me is that unless you optimize the hell out of your race/class pairing and never go against type, always play a perfect combination of class/race, every single ASI they gain has to be an ASI. You cannot take any feats if you plan to go to epic-level games, because in an epic-level game when you never encounter a DC lower than 28 and an AC lower than 30, any stat below 20 is a waste of time. Anyone other than the bard or the rogue rolling on their Expertise skills pretty much needs to nat 20 in order to succeed at anything at those levels if they're not at, ideally, 22+.
5e already has issues with a lack of character customization and diversity; telling a player that they will be crippling themselves if they take any feats, or any more than one feat if their race/class alignment is perfect, is extremely frustrating. So folks pad it some.
For me, it's a lot of fun to build a character out to level 20, seeing what options she might choose when. It lets me make better informed decisions about what features and spells to choose. Currently playing a Tiefling warlock, and I plan to multiclass at Warlock 5, take four levels of Shadow Sorcerer, and then finish out the remaining levels (however many there may be) as warlock. Building out to 20 helped me see that I don't really mind missing those last few levels of Warlock, and where I want to strategically dip into Sorcerer to maximize my ability to do more than cast a couple of spells per short rest. Having the ability to twin spells and maximize damage as a Warlock sounds pretty sick, too, having played as a Sorcerer/Paladin in a previous campaign. Looking at my Level 16/4 Warlock/Paladin sheet fills me with evil inspiration. I might not get there in the current campaign, but I might, and it's still fun to imagine the kinds of things she'll be capable of. I imagine her casting darkness and picking off enemies one after another with eldritch blast, like some perverse twist on Chronicles of Riddick... 3;}
Multi-classing or dipping with warlock is too easy. There should be harder parameters. I don't like the idea of other classes getting Eldritch Blast by magic initiate feat either. Eldritch Blast should be a class level spell, not a character level spell for determining its power.
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I dont know the nature of your campaign but personally i would seriously consider the likeness of getting to lvl 20 and make a decision based on that.
If its not likely you might not want to put lvls in places based on that goal. Also you should seriously look over what you get at higher lvls with both classes and think about what benefits are better, in respects to RP and FE (Functional Effectiveness).
SilverSummons
My DM unexpectedly gave my Hexblade's pact weapon this ability (per short rest.) Honestly, it maybe only happens once per battle, so reset on a long rest would work too.
It's actually easiest to crush the godhood out of characters at level 15 and above. But many games and many players start a bit OP to begin with. People cringe at point buy and stat array because they dont' feel it's strong enough. Not understanding that it's more than enough to tackle lower levels and can make the higher levels more interesting without the DM actually trying to ruin the party.
But half the problem with a lot of builds is they are never actually used or tested at high level. They are theory crafted by low level experiences where it is easy to be a bit over powered and where low level synergies can actually amplify that over powered nature. But if you really play many of the builds at high level you start to find them having trouble to keep up at worst and pretty much all powers from at least one of the classes become novelty abilities at best for most. Particularly at that 15+ range. There are a few that hold up but they aren't usually the ones that most people think would do that job.
The builds also tend to be built in kind of a vacuum with no consideration of party members or party synergies in mind that can be really beneficial.
That all being said. Having a good story reason to do it is probably the best reason to multiclass as any class. But particularly something like the Warlock which is run through with many kinds of RP hooks to begin with. And if your campaigns that you get to play in because people mistaking the commitment of a long running game or always wanting to try something new syndrome or whatever else means that your never playing above about level 10. Then just keep that in mind with whatever that your going to play. If it goes beyond that there is always time to re-evaluate and add onto what your doing and it makes it easier to take into account changes because of game play that you might not have expected that plenty of those level20 detail planners actually have trouble adjusting to.
Personally, I like to MC warlock. My last character was a sorcerer with a warlock (hexblade) dip; I thought the rechargeable 1st level spell slots would be more useful than they were. Well, that and I really wanted a chain shirt for my concept. The character was fun, but I probably should have stayed pure sorc for what I was doing.
My current character is a celestial bardlock. He was originally going to be a sorlock also, but backwards...a 1-2 level sorc dip. I changed to bard because one of our players decided he wanted to bless. So, my thought of standing in the back holding bless (divine sorc) in conc while I blast went away. the number of spell slots a lock gets...well that's a hard sell for me. So, I went bard to get a couple of first level spell slots, and faerie fire instead of bless. I think the character is probably stronger than I was originally planning and is a better fit for my backstory of being a scouty type who made a pact. I'm not sure how interested I am in a "pure" warlock...because of that spell slot limitation.
As a dip though, warlock feels almost cheating as a dip. For my old sorlock, I felt like I was a fully functional warlock spamming EB, while being able to use my spellslots for buffs and heals. 2 levels and you get to add most of an entire class's "schtick" to another charisma class. One level of hexblade makes paladins SAD (read happy) plus adds some nice utility magic, not to mention a rechargable smite.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
I agree. I believe that all of the various Eldritch Blast enhancements should have a prerequisite of 5 levels of Warlock.
Unfortunately, this would break the warlock. They are essentially, an arcane archer. Without the EB enhancements, they would be pretty ****** until level 5. A better potential "fix" would be to make EB scale on warlock level rather than character level. Given EB is a warlock specific spell, I don't view this as problematic.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Considering you can't even get all of them with just a 2 level dip. Your going to have to pick and choose and your going to lose out some way. Considering there are like 4 or 5 of them and not all of them stack so they can't be used at the same time anyway and most of them will only apply to one of it's beams in a turn (the only exception is the distance one). EB is way over-rated. It's not to say it can't be useful but people get way to caught up in it and think it's some kind of ultimate tool and it's not.
You don't really need all of them. You are mistaken about hose the beams work; it's not like scorching ray. Crawford has clarified that the invocations stack on each beam. Agonizing blast adds your char mod to /each/ beam's damage. Repelling blast pushes with /each/ beam, and if you hit the same target you get to apply the push each time a beam hits.
Here's crawford expressly confirming that AB applies to each bolt: https://twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/703376603900825601?lang=en
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Then he's reversed his own decisions at some point. I don't have the link to it anymore but when the question came up for things like Scorching Ray for Evoker wizards. He expressly said that it only applies to one of the beams. Despite functionally working basically the same way. Same with the function of how Repelling blast works.
Or maybe he's just biased and prefers Warlocks. Who's to really say.
I believe Scorching ray was specifically errata'd. Repelling blast is also on each beam. Invocations would suck pretty badly if they did /not/ work that way. EB is basically a bowshot. A martial character gets their dex mod on every bow shot. Without the effect stacking, a warlock doing "their thing" and spamming EB would be a straight downgrade to any martial with a bow.
Also, EB is a cantrip, while Scorching Ray is a slot spell. They behave differently. You can get extra beams with a higher level slot, while EB /only/ provides as many beams as the character's level provides.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
I was just having this conversation today. There are some classes like Barbarian where I feel like you should not multiclass because the +4 to Str and Con is just too good to pass up. I love the Warlock class but the level 20 ability does not seem like a must have since you get 2 spell slots and you can take a short rest to get them back. I think you should take at least 8 levels of Warlock and then pick a class that will either increase the number of spell slots or boost other weaknesses. Sorcerer is a nice one because you get the origin features and you can pact of blade/thirsting blade to get two melee attacks. Pally is also good for all the Cha bonuses you can get.
Here is a link to a test character I made. I am using a homebrew feat to make a shield my weapon which I admit is probably a little broken but you can get the idea. Link: https://ddb.ac/characters/15892231/7sHrGF
I always welcome any feedback/suggestions
I've recently checked with my DM about multiclassing my warlock with Circle of Dreams Druid. Without going too deep into detail, there's rp flavor reasons for a 3 level dip to connect with the Feywild in a different way, which is actually in some kind of service to my patron, and mechanically, it gives the party a healer, which it currently lacks.
Ultimately, should we go that far, I expect a W17/D3 build. I didn't even think about Multiclassing until recently, but it fits the character, the patron and the party needs.
May the gentle moonlinght guide you to greater wisdom
First off, cool character sheet that also shows well on mobile. Secondly, cool concept overall. You've got some buff stats, healing and enough other board control and out of combat spells to make the character more than a Murderhobo. A couple of quick questions:
Shouldn't you have more 3rd and 4th level Warlock spells as a 12th level Warlock or am I missing something?
My only other concern is RP concept: what drives this character? I have no issue with the build, I'm trying to figure out the methods and motivations by which they got there. I'm not knocking it at all, just trying to understand. Thanks!
May the gentle moonlinght guide you to greater wisdom
On the spells, a Warlock casts all the spells they know at the highest level they know so in that bulid they are all being cast as 5th level spells. The 1-3 levels that you see on that sheet are really due to to levels in Pally. The multiclassing rules just lets me use those slots to also cast my warlock spells. It is one of the big reasons people multiclass with a Warlock.
As for the character, you can see the backstory on my actual character sheet with the following link. The first link I shared was just a character I made to test builds so it is not the one I actually plan on using. Link: https://ddb.ac/characters/15905606/PvBryT. I am a huge Captain America fan and wanted to play a Warlock so I tried to write a backstory with Cap flavor, though I want a lot of magic and Warlock flavor to it. That is why I am using the homebrew feat to use a shield as my weapon. My character already wants to protect so protecting nature as well as people is not a huge stretch. The Raven Queen works to maintain the balance between life and death so I feel like those will mesh well together.
One slight amendment: the multiclassing Warlock can cast any of his or her spells at highest level, provided that they are using the Warlock spell slot and not the other caster. Before 11th level, that's still only two spells until you start using the other slots.
Overall, this is an excellent build and I enjoy the backstory. It's got a lot of flavor and potency. Kudos
May the gentle moonlinght guide you to greater wisdom
Glad you like it. I think it is an interesting idea for a multi-class build.
Few reasons why Warlock is so multi-class friendly:
(I'll preface this part by saying, the following are a bunch of basic rules class generalizations. I recognize there are many exceptions.)
If you're strength based, you're pretty much a fighter/paladin/barbarian. While those classes all have very different flavors to them, they all handle the same general "melee combatant" roll in the party. If you're Wisdom based, Cleric/Druid for the most part. Again, very different flavor but both handle "divine caster" type things. Int, you're pretty much...Wizard.
When you hit Charisma though, there are a whole bunch of different roles that open up to you all tied to the same stat. If you want to be a support/face character with access to healing, you can play a Bard. If you want to be a melee fighter (with access to healing) you can play a Paladin. If you want to be a pure caster you can play a Sorcerer. And Warlock has class features that fit right in and greatly enhance (or shore up weaknesses) of all of these depending on the build choices you make.
Warlock gets a TON of useful things very quickly. With a 3 level dip your paladin/bard can have a "permanent" (it can't ever be taken away from you) magic weapon of any type you choose (including bows) that you're automatically proficient with, uses your Cha for Att & Dmg, has an additional +1 to Att & Dmg, and counts as a spellcasting focus. Heck...want to be a Cha based Fighter and just not care about Str? You can do that with a 3 level dip in Warlock! Or your Sorcerer can get access to healing spells, 5 new cantrips, an enhanced Ritual Magic feat. Or your Bard can get...etc... These are just a couple of the *many* different options 3 levels of Warlock brings to the mix, and in all of them you're also getting 2 extra level 2 spell slots per short rest that can be used for whatever flavor your character likes (Smites? Heals? Defense? Damage?) and the option for an Eldritch Blast cantrip that even gets your Cha added to damage per bolt if you want a solid ranged damage option.
With a 3 level dip in warlock, you're still able to snag 9th level spells by level 20 with primary caster classes. Obviously it's at a slower progression, but a lot of players seem more keen on planning out a level 20 character then they are on actually thinking about the process of playing it up to that point. And if you're *not* expecting/planning the character to get to 20, multi-classing becomes even more appealing. The two other things Warlock levels bring then are Patron Features and Invocations. Some of the Patron Features are nifty, some are honestly just extra flavor mostly, almost none of them are things you typically hear people leveling a Warlock to unlock. When was the last time you heard a player say "Gosh I want to build a Hexblade because I'm SUPER excited about making that specter I get at 6th level!"? Not saying (well, kinda saying...) it's never been said, but that's not what draws people to Hexblade... And that leaves Invocations. Now don't get me wrong, Invocations are strong. No denying that at all. But remember, you've already got two of them with a 3 level dip and many characters can get the "really important" stuff for their build in those two choices. Heck, a lot of characters can even get a whole ton of benefit out of even 1 or 2 levels of Warlock. There are certainly reasons to keep leveling warlock, but there are a whole lot of other appealing options out there too...
What gets me about Standard Array/Point Buy isn't that they're underpowered for low-level content (though they are). What gets me is that unless you optimize the hell out of your race/class pairing and never go against type, always play a perfect combination of class/race, every single ASI they gain has to be an ASI. You cannot take any feats if you plan to go to epic-level games, because in an epic-level game when you never encounter a DC lower than 28 and an AC lower than 30, any stat below 20 is a waste of time. Anyone other than the bard or the rogue rolling on their Expertise skills pretty much needs to nat 20 in order to succeed at anything at those levels if they're not at, ideally, 22+.
5e already has issues with a lack of character customization and diversity; telling a player that they will be crippling themselves if they take any feats, or any more than one feat if their race/class alignment is perfect, is extremely frustrating. So folks pad it some.
Why you shouldn't start ANOTHER thread about DDB not giving away free redeems on your hardcopy book purchases.
Thinking of starting ANOTHER thread asking why Epic Boons haven't been implemented? Read this first to learn why you shouldn't!
For me, it's a lot of fun to build a character out to level 20, seeing what options she might choose when. It lets me make better informed decisions about what features and spells to choose. Currently playing a Tiefling warlock, and I plan to multiclass at Warlock 5, take four levels of Shadow Sorcerer, and then finish out the remaining levels (however many there may be) as warlock. Building out to 20 helped me see that I don't really mind missing those last few levels of Warlock, and where I want to strategically dip into Sorcerer to maximize my ability to do more than cast a couple of spells per short rest. Having the ability to twin spells and maximize damage as a Warlock sounds pretty sick, too, having played as a Sorcerer/Paladin in a previous campaign. Looking at my Level 16/4 Warlock/Paladin sheet fills me with evil inspiration. I might not get there in the current campaign, but I might, and it's still fun to imagine the kinds of things she'll be capable of. I imagine her casting darkness and picking off enemies one after another with eldritch blast, like some perverse twist on Chronicles of Riddick... 3;}
Multi-classing or dipping with warlock is too easy. There should be harder parameters. I don't like the idea of other classes getting Eldritch Blast by magic initiate feat either. Eldritch Blast should be a class level spell, not a character level spell for determining its power.